UNGULATA 49 



of Calcutta, and placed them on Kapiti Island in Cook Strait. They 

 had not increased by 1902. In 1907 the Tourist Department liberated 

 five deer at Mount Tongariro in the North Island; and in 1909 five 

 at Dusky Sound in the South Island. No reports have as yet been 

 received regarding either of these experiments. 



* Sambur Deer or Sambar {Cervtii unicolor) 

 In 1875 the Auckland Society received a buck from a Mr Lark- 

 worthy, and in the following year a doe. There is no further record 

 of these deer in the Society's reports^- But in the annual report of 

 the Wellington Society for 1894 it is stated: 



The Ceylon Elk (Sambur Deer) imported into the Carnarvon district, 

 Manawatu, by Mr Larkworthy, have been brought imder the provisions 

 of the Animds Protection Act, and are at present under the control of 

 the Society. It has been reported that the herd now numbers about thirty. 



There is no word of these deer in any previous report of the Wellington 

 Society. Then in 1900 the herd is reported to number about 100, 

 " but there is good reason to think that they are really more numerous. 

 . . .A pair of antlers were found on the hills near Cambridge, and 

 two deer were shot there," some 200 miles from Carnarvon. 



In 1906 the WelHngton Society (Marton Branch) reported that 

 " Stag-shooting (Sambur) was opened for the first time this season 

 in this district, . . . but we fear that numbers of stags have been shot 

 by persons unauthorised to do so." This poaching has gone on 

 regularly for many years past, and though the herd seems now a 

 fairly large one, the local rangers complain of indiscriminate destruc- 

 tion in season and out of season. In 1907 the Tourist Department 

 imported two deer (from Noumea) and liberated them in the Rotorua 

 district, adding to them some others secured in the Manawatu, so 

 as to form the nucleus of a new herd. 



* Wapiti or Elk {Cervns canadensis) 



Sir George Grey introduced a pair of these deer into Kawau 

 Island some time in the seventies. The doe died, and the buck had 



■' The difficulty of getting accurate and authoritative information on this subject 

 is characteristic of the manner in which many of the reports of the acclimatisation 

 societies have been kept. The governing bodies of these societies frequently included 

 enthusiasts vyho took an interest in the work of introducing what they considered 

 desirable forms of animals ; but the secretaries in many cases were selected for their 

 capacity in keeping the business of the society in order and in conducting corre- 

 spondence. The secretaries and the personnel of the committees were also frequently 

 changed. The result has been a great want of continuity in many cases, so that 

 there is now no consecutive record of the work done. Thus in the case of the Sambur 

 deer referred to, the only record of introduction is that of the two specimens 

 received by the Auckland Society in 1873^6; yet it is almost certain there were 

 others. If not, then all the Sambur in New Zealand up to 1907 were the progeny 

 of one pair, and of course are very closely interbred. 



T. N. z. 4 



