l hadn’t heard of moose in NZ before, but they were there until at least 1952, apparently:
“In 1972, Tustin found a cast deer antler, only one or two seasons old. In the decades afterwards, experienced hunters would report unmistakeable moose sign - sign being a term used for physical evidence of an animal's existence. There was a breakthrough in 2005, when two hair samples collected from separate areas in 2001 and 2002 - one of which taken from roughly the same place Tustin found the antler decades earlier - were confirmed through DNA testing by a Canadian University as being of moose origin. Because of the pummelling rain, hairs were only likely to last a month, dating the moose to this century.
TIMELINE
1910: Ten moose are released at Supper Cove in Fiordland.
1929: Hunter Eddie Herrick shoots the first bull moose under licence in New Zealand.
1934: Herrick shoots the second bull moose in 1934.
1952: The moose are presumed extinct, until Percy Lyes, part of a trio of deer cullers, claims third bull moose. Robin Francis Smith, on the same trip, takes the last verified photo of a Fiordland moose.
1971: Hunter Gordon Anderson claims to have killed a moose, but his claims were unconfirmed. Ken Tustin, for the forestry service, finds a cast antler.
1995: A remote camera catches blurry images of what appears to be a moose, but it remains unconfirmed.
2001: A hair sample taken from Fiordland is found to be of moose origin, confirming the modern-day presence of moose.
2005: Dozens more hair samples are sent to a Canadian University for DNA testing. One of those samples is also confirmed to be of moose origin.
2011: Clothing company Hallensteins offers a $100,000 prize for photos of a Fiordland moose.
2018: Hunters report new signs of what appear to be moose - chewed and snapped branches out of reach of deer, occasional footprints. New remote cameras are set up.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/104071821/there-are-signs-moose-still-live-in-nzs-wilderness
maximus otter