Heritage et AL

The Great Barrier Island Pigeon Post  was the first in the world to use pigeons to deliver mail using postage stamps, although they were “unofficial” stamps. The Great Barrier Island pigeon post service was started after the sinking of the SS Wairarapa in October 1894.  This ship ran aground on the remote north side of Great Barrier Island. Ref:  James Richardson   Showing the Wreck of  SS Wairarapa  at Miners Head, Great Barrier Island, 1894, Sir  George Grey  Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-102 About 121 lives were lost. News of the disaster  didn't  reach Auckland until two or three days later. It highlighted the need for better communication with the island. The first message of the pigeongram service was carried by one of Mr Parkin’s pigeons, on May 14th 1897. You can read the full page article in the Auckland Weekly News here . Ref: Auckland Weekly News, A kit of racing pigeons, 15 September 1899, Sir...

Rats are a big deal in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Not only do they pass on diseases to people and domestic animals but they also pose a serious threat to our native fauna, which is vulnerable to these exceedingly tenacious vermin. For example, in 1959 rats invaded the tiny island of Ruapuke/Maria Island in the Hauraki Gulf (part of the Noises Islands). The rats made short work of the local population of birds, killing nearly 1,000 storm petrels . Ref: Auckland Weekly News, stormy petrel, Moko Hinau Island, 1937, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19371006-44-8 Quick action was taken and with the aid of a Wildlife Service grant of £5 and the efforts of a Forest and Bird Protection Society group led by A. McDonald from Waiheke Island, the rat population was decimated. The island was surveyed the following year to check for signs of rats but none were found. A program of surveys and poisoning continued for a number of years until 1964 when the rat population ...