By Beverley Trowbridge

Heritage Breeds originated from other parts of the world, mainly from Europe. They were brought here by the early farming settlers, to stock this country which was devoid of its own domesticated livestock, and the animals have continued to be farmed and have retained their original breed characteristics ever since. However, there are some breeds currently in New Zealand which do not fit this category of translocated domestics, and their story is much more dramatic.

When the European ships were exploring the coasts of New Zealand throughout the 19th century, there was not too much by way of proteinaceous wildwood for them catch to replenish their supplies so far from home, since the seabird and marine mammal populations had already been severely depleted by the resident Maori. Fish and shellfish would have been their main sources of protein, and for these they had to compete with the native people for the best fishing grounds. Early ship cargo records show that a common practice on these exploratory and trading voyages was to bring over live sheep, goats, cows, pigs and chooks, from ports like Cape Town, Calcutta and Sydney at which they replenished supplies en route, and these walking protein larders were used as gifts and trade items for deals with local Maori, and were also liberated directly into the bush on offshore islands around the coast of New Zealand for hunting by returning explorers, sealers, whalers and stranded shipwrecked sailors.

Thus the Chatham Islands, Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sound, Kapiti Island, Stewart Island, and even the sub-Antarctic islands were colonised by feral livestock which managed to survive in the bush into modern day. Also, as the mainland of New Zealand became settled and farmed, many of the farm animals from those early isolated farms escaped into the wild and established local populations of ferals which managed to evade capture and hunting and survived as genetically isolated populations into the late 20th century.

However, it was then that their fortunes were destined to change. Having survived the ravages of the New Zealand climate, learnt to thrive on the unpalatable NZ native bush, avoided the depredations of canny Maori and gun-toting Europeans alike, the local ferals were to prove no match for the determination of a government department. For in the 1970’s the Department of Conservation set about an eradication of introduced feral animals on the offshore islands of New Zealand, under the very laudable intention of restoring the indigenous flora populations which were being significantly depleted by the grazing of these now thriving inmates. Unfortunately however, no consideration was given to the genetic heritage or value of these amazing populations of feral domestics and so in a very one-eyed approach they were just mass slaughtered, with no attempt made to relocate or preserve representative populations for future research or farming needs.

If it weren’t for the intervention of a small group of very dedicated, resourceful and brave individuals, under the banner of the Rare Breeds Conservation Society of New Zealand, all of these unique animals would have been lost to future generations. It took face-to-face confrontations both in government offices and out in the bush, and guerrilla warfare type tactics, to rescue a very small sample of some of these animals and steal them away to safe places where they could be looked after and bred-up again. A fascinating account of some of the battles fought during this era can be found in Betty Rowe’s interesting tales of Arapawa Island, called Arapawa-Once Upon an Island.

Complete populations of many of the original ferals were sadly lost, and many were reduced to such low populations that any future breeding has become highly problematic. However, we are fortunate that we do have many of these fascinating animals still with us today, as well as which other more recently farmed and ‘feralized’ livestock have also been added to the list. It is perhaps these ‘breeds’ or ‘breeds-in-the-making’, which are the true Heritage Breeds of New Zealand, since, like the Heritage Seeds so lovingly collected and preserved for future generations by bodies like Koanga gardens, these are the animals whose gene bank represents a true adaptation to the local conditions, and whose characteristics have been molded by this land. Like the fruit trees, they reflect a gene pool befitting the very intimate features of a place.

These animals make fascinating and highly useful livestock with which to farm or stock your lifestyle block. By and large they are much hardier than their captive cousins, and so are preternaturally designed for organic systems. They also have attributes and qualities lost in our impoverished array of modern breeds. Some of them are just out and out curios, like the Enderby Island rabbit for example, which managed to survive the sub-zero temperatures of the sub-Antarctic, and which have the most gorgeous silvery fur, but need a great deal of patience to breed as they like to be pretty cool!

Of all of the ferals, the sheep seem to have come off best, with over twelve local types recognised by the rare Breeds Conservation society. Some of the most popular of these are the island types which reverted back to the many shades of brown colouration of their wild ancestors, and which have also returned to more ancestral sheep behaviours like browsing, lambing more than once a year, shedding their fleece, and avoiding flies. Arapawa Sheep and Pitt Island sheep (from the Chatham’s) are probably the most numerous, being kept by enthusiasts up and down the country. The Pitt sheep are more solid in both conformation and colouration, producing an excellent meat carcass lamb. Whilst the Arapawas are more slightly built and have an extremely fine merino-grade fleece, which is ideal for the craft market, especially felting. Both are very hardy sheep and produce meat much leaner than modern domesticated breeds- they also have much more interesting personalities!

Thanks to the dedication and determination of their guardian on Arapawa island, Betty Rowe, the feral animals of that island have been ‘saved’ for posterity more than from any other location. Thus, as well as the sheep we also have a very endearing breed of goat- very similar in appearance to the Old English goat with attractive coat markings, and also a tan and black spotted pig, both again called after their island home. The only other feral pigs which survived, apart from the ubiquitous and conglomerate ‘Captain Cooker’, were taken from the Auckland islands. These were amazing creatures who in order to survive had developed enormous heads with long snouts like the ancestral wild pigs, sporting long fluffy ears more befitting of an arctic donkey, and with diminutive back-ends more like a warthog or hyena. Once brought back to civilisation however, and fed more nutritious food, their body shape and size quickly altered again, showing the amazing plasticity of the genome.

Other fascinating ferals with bizarre stories include the Enderby island cows, which existed by feeding on seaweed on the shores of their island home, like some of the cattle and sheep in the islands of northern Scotland. In appearance they also looked very similar to the Shetland island cattle of today. Sadly only one female cow and some semen was rescued from the slaughter of the cattle on Enderby island- she was called Lady and attempts were made to mate her with the semen but to no avail, she was subsequently cloned at Ruakura research station and some of her female clones still survive and have been mated with the rescued semen. However, the future of this local island type doesn’t look too rosy.

The Kaimanawa horses were another feral breed or type which were rescued under great local controversy and bad feeling, but some of which do still survive today and are sometimes successfully broken in as children’s ponies, but which often show temperaments unsuited to riding horses, having reverted to a more wild type of behaviour. In the Hauraki Gulf there is also a local type of Donkey, called the Ponui Donkey, which were used as pack animals on the island and have been geographically isolated for a considerable time- probably over 100 years.

Whilst the exact ancestry of all of these feral breeds remains lost in the mists of time and human endeavour, each has some unique genetic heritage that deserves to be treasured and retained as taonga for our future generations. Who knows when we may come to rely upon the abilities of those genetic resources to thrive in adaptation to our unique local conditions and environment here in Aotearoa.

Anyone who is interesting in learning more about these feral breeds and/or finding out where to find local breeders with stock for sale can visit www.rarebreeds.co.nz.

Speaking from experience, they are a true delight to keep!