The New Zealand American Fiordland Expedition was a research expedition organised by the
Department of Internal Affairs
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA; ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling laws; registering births, ...
in 1949 to undertake research into
elk (wapiti) as well as other biodiversity, surveying and geology in the
Fiordland National Park
Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 National parks of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W� ...
.
Genesis of the expedition
In 1947, American Colonel John K. Howard participated in a preliminary reconnaissance survey of
Fiordland
Fiordland (, "The Pit of Tattooing", and also translated as "the Shadowlands"), is a non-administrative geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the western third of Southland. Most of F ...
, South Island, New Zealand for
elk (wapiti).
Wapiti are not native to New Zealand; they were introduced in 1905 from the United States into
Fiordland National Park
Fiordland National Park is a national park in the south-west corner of South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 13 National parks of New Zealand, national parks in New Zealand, with an area covering , and a major part of the Te W� ...
.
After that study, Howard was interested in organising a comparative scientific study of wapiti and their habitat in their native United States and their established range in Fiordland.
Fiordland is well-known for its isolation, steep mountainous terrain, and notoriously bad weather, so such an expedition would need good communication, several camps, a large and experienced team, and the support of several governmental departments.
Howard first recruited the American expert on wapiti,
Olaus Murie, to be scientific leader, and then set up a management committee to plan the expedition into Fiordland to study wapiti.
The expedition was funded by a grant in 1948 from the New Zealand
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filin ...
to the
Department of Internal Affairs
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA; ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling laws; registering births, ...
, which called it ''The New Zealand-American Fiordland Expedition.
''

The main aim of the expedition was to study the wapiti population in its breeding grounds in Fiordland. However scientists from other fields of study would also study other aspects of zoology, botany, geology, forest survey, survey and photography.''
''
Participants
In addition to three American scientists, the vast majority of members of the large interdisciplinary team included New Zealand scientists, photographers, surveyors, and field personnel. Forty-nine people are listed as being "official personnel" on the expedition, but more than 60 took part in it.''
'' Only one of the 49 official participants was a woman, the New Zealand botanist,
Ruth Mason
Ruth Mason (7 November 1913 – 14 May 1990) was a New Zealand Botany, botanist specialising in the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ecology of freshwater plants. She was employed at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research ...
.
Leaders
*
John K. Howard, American Colonel, instigator of the expedition and zoologist (deer)
*
Olaus Murie, American, Director of
The Wilderness Society, scientific leader and zoologist (
wapiti
The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. T ...
)
* Donald Murie, American, son of and assistant to Olaus Murie; 17 years old at the time of the expedition
*
Lindsay Poole,
DSIR, deputy scientific leader and botanist
Biologists
*
Ralph Irvine Kean,
Department of Internal Affairs
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA; ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling laws; registering births, ...
, biologist
*
Hunter Baughan Wisely, Department of Internal Affairs, biologist (deer)
*
Frank Woodrow, Canadian-born trapper, Department of Internal Affairs, biologist (small mammals)
*
Kazimierz Wodzicki, DSIR, zoologist (small mammals)
*
Peter Creswick Bull, DSIR zoologist (small mammals)
*
Brian Turnbull Cunningham, Marine Department, biologist (fish)
* D. J. Anderson, Marine Department, biologist (fish)
*
Lionel Jack Dumbleton
Lionel Jack Dumbleton (1905 – 25 September 1976) was a New Zealand entomologist. He was born in Hampden, New Zealand and was a founding member of the Entomological Society of New Zealand. Dumbleton was one of the entomologists studying inse ...
, DSIR, entomologist
*
Richard Dell
Richard Kenneth Dell (11 July 1920 – 6 March 2002) was a New Zealand malacologist.
Biography
Dell was born in Auckland in 1920. As a young boy, he took an interest in shells, collecting them from the shores of Waitematā Harbour. He even ...
,
Dominion Museum
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand a ...
, invertebrate zoologist
*
Ray Forster
Raymond Robert Forster (19 June 1922 – 1 July 2000) was a New Zealand Arachnology, arachnologist and museum director. He was a Fellow of The Entomological Society of New Zealand.
Biography
Forster was born in Hastings, New Zealand in 1922, a ...
,
Canterbury Museum, invertebrate zoologist
*
Charles John Lindsay, Dominion Museum, preparator and taxidermist
*
W. R. B. Oliver, Dominion Museum, botanist
*
Ruth Mason
Ruth Mason (7 November 1913 – 14 May 1990) was a New Zealand Botany, botanist specialising in the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and ecology of freshwater plants. She was employed at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research ...
, DSIR, botanist
*
Victor Zotov, DSIR, botanist
*
John Thorpe Holloway,
New Zealand Forest Service
New or NEW may refer to:
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* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
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* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...
, forest survey leader
*
Jack Henry, New Zealand Forest Service, forest survey
* J. Everett, New Zealand Forest Service, forest survey
*
David Alexander Brown, DSIR and New Zealand Geological Survey, geologist
*
Alan Copland Beck, DSIR, geologist
Surveyors
*
Joseph Holmes Miller,
Department of Lands and Survey
The Department of Lands and Survey was a government department in New Zealand that managed the administration of Crown land and its survey and mapping requirements.
History Establishment
The department was established in 1876 with the appointment ...
, surveyor and survey leader
*
Robert Douglas Dick, Department of Lands and Survey, surveyor
*
Ralph Moir, Department of Lands and Survey, surveyor
* R. Litt, Department of Lands and Survey, surveyor
Photographers
*
Kenneth Valentine Bigwood, Prime Minister's Department, photographer
*
Jim Ollerenshaw, Department of Internal Affairs, photographer
Field personnel
* R. V. McKane, field leader
* Kenneth Miers, deputy field leader
* D. Le Beau, shooter
* D. Jenkins, shooter
* R. C. Borlase, cook
* Max R. Farrell, NZRAMC medical sergeant, medical officer
*
Frank E. Barlow,
wireless operator
A radio operator (also, formerly, a wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system and the technicalities in broadcasting. The profession of radio operator has become l ...
* J. Lutterell, assistant to John K. Howard
* R. Dunstan, service personnel
* W. R. Drower, service personnel
* W. Gardiner, service personnel
* J. Cornish, service personnel
* H. Dixon, service personnel
* M. Logan, service personnel
* A. F. Allen, service personnel
* C. Templeton, service personnel
* R. Ensor, service personnel
* V. R. Woods, service personnel
* G. H. Ross, service personnel
* G. Sharpe, service personnel
Others mentioned in the preliminary reports or elsewhere but not on list of official personnel
Source:
*
Alexander J. Black, captain of ''MV Alert''
* E. J. Herrick, experienced wapiti stalker
* Kenneth Sutherland, experienced wapiti stalker
* Leslie Murrell
*
Robert Falla, Director of the Dominion Museum
[
]
Expedition
In early January 1949, Howard and the team of field personnel sailed on the ''MV Alert'' with most of the expedition gear from
Bluff and
Milford Milford may refer to:
Place names Canada
* Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia
* Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia
* Milford, Ontario
England
* Milford, Derbyshire
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* Milford on Sea, Hampshire
* Milford, Shro ...
to a small camp that they set up at Caswell Sound.''
'' They prepared for the arrival of the scientific teams by unloading and packing stores and equipment, establishing camps, and cutting tracks for the rest of the expedition party.''
''
The base camp for the expedition was established on the banks of the
Stillwater River, about 6 miles from the small beachhead camp at Caswell Sound, which had storage tents, a laboratory, a cookhouse, a wireless, and even electric lighting.''
'' The field party hauled stores and equipment by land to Lake Marchant, and from there,
prams with outboard motors were used to ship the gear to base camp.''
'' Other smaller camps were established on the Stillwater River (two camps), Leslie Clearing (one),
Glaisnock River (two), and Henry Saddle (one); the expedition also used several
Ministry of Works' huts, including at George Sound, Lake Thomson and Lake Hankinson.''
''
Even though wapiti animals would be shot to make specimens of them, the expedition team only ate wapiti meat about six times, when a specimen happened to be shot near camp. Additional camp stores therefore had to be replenished regularly. For the duration of the expedition from January through May 1949, stores were shipped via road from Invercargill using
New Zealand Army
The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...
trucks that transported them through the partially completed
Homer Tunnel
The Homer Tunnel is a 1.2 km (0.75 miles) long road tunnel in the Fiordland region of the South Island of New Zealand, opened in 1953. New Zealand State Highway 94 passes through the tunnel, linking Milford Sound to Te Anau and Queenstown ...
to Milford. From there, Alexander J. Black, captain of ''MV Alert,'' ran fortnightly trips by sea between Milford and the expedition's two main beachhead landing sites in Fiordland: Caswell Sound and
George Sound.''
''
In early March, the expedition was also supplied by air drops from Queenstown to the upper Stillwater River camp.
[
] For example on 5 March, packages weighing c. 35 pounds were dropped by parachute from aircraft, one package on each of five trips.
Some of the special supplies in each package that went above and beyond standard camp food included asparagus, coffee and
Worcester sauce
Worcestershire sauce or Worcester sauce (UK: ) is a fermented liquid condiment invented by pharmacists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins in the city of Worcester in Worcestershire, England, during the first half of the 19th century ...
.
The main dates of the expedition were as follows:''
''
* 9 January 1949: The field party, Howard, photographer and survey party travelled from Bluff and Milford to Caswell Sound.
* 29 January 1949: The field party shifted stores from Milford to Caswell Sound.
* 12 February 1949: The field party shifted stores from Milford to Caswell Sound.
* 26 February 1949: The scientific teams (including Murie, zoologists, botanists (including Poole), entomologists and Lindsay, the preparator) arrived and began research around base camp, and smaller camps on the Stillwater River and Leslie Clearing. These scientists spent about 6 weeks in this area, visiting Mary Peaks (1 day), Leslie Clearing (5 days), Upper Stillwater Camp (10 days), Saddle Hill (1 day), George Sound (2 days), Henry Saddle (2 days) and Hankinson Hut (2 days), with the remaining days at base camp.
* 26 March 1949: Botanists Oliver and Zotov, together with Wodzicki and the forest surveyors, travelled from Dunedin to Caswell Sound.
* 26 March to 5 April 2024: The botanists collected vascular plants and bryophytes for the Dominion Museum around Caswell Sound, base camp, Leslie Clearing, and George Sound.
* 7 April 1949: The expedition moved to George Sound, also travelling to Hankinson Hut via Henry Saddle. Robert Falla was expected to arrive at the upper Stillwater camp for a brief stay.
* 6-26 April 1949: Botanist Mason collected aquatic plants and identified plants eaten by wapiti, while the forest survey was also conducted for about a month starting from 26 March, in the George Sound area.
* 27 April 1949: Several expedition members, including the survey team, some scientists and a photographer (Miller, Litt, Dick, Moor, Mason, Lindsay, Forster, Bidgood) left Fiordland, returning to Invercargill.
* late April/early May 1949: The expedition moved to the Glaisnock River camps.
* 5 May 1949: Murie departed Fiordland.
* 7-8 May & 13 May 1949: The field party dismantled the camps and ''MV Alert'' completed its final sailings for this expedition from Caswell Sound and George Sound. The Dominion Museum in Wellington then became the operational headquarters.
Other zoologists, botanists, foresters and geologists arrived later than 26 February, remained for shorter periods, and worked independently to the main expedition party.''
''
Expedition publications
*
*
*
Accomplishments
A survey of wapiti in the area covered by the expedition recorded 180 observations of wapiti, including 40 wapiti in the Charles Sound area, 75 in the Stillwater River area, 17 near George Sound, and 40 near Lake Te Anau. Based on these and other observations, the total number of wapiti in Fiordland was estimated to be between 500-1000 individuals.''
''
Red deer
The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...
were found in similar or greater numbers
and hybrids between the two closely related species, which do not co-occur or hybridise in their native range, were also found.
Murie noted that wapiti shifted their breeding season from September-October in the United States to March-April in New Zealand, they shifted their diet to a completely new flora, and there were several observations of accidental death of wapiti from falls or injuries in the rugged Fiordland terrain.''
''
About 45 wapiti specimens were collected during the expedition, and only the skin, a stomach sample and skull were collected from each animal. Preparator Lindsay boiled the skulls, cleaned and salted the skins, and sent the skulls "packed in moss" to the Dominion Museum, Wellington, and then on to Murie in the United States.''
'' Te Papa has retained at least one of these specimens.
The botanists on the expedition observed based on field evidence that the diet of wapiti and red deer in Fiordland comprised several preferred shrubs and trees, including ''
Pseudopanax colensoi,
Raukaua simplex,
Griselinia littoralis,
Coprosma foetidissima
''Coprosma foetidissima'', commonly known as stinkwood or hūpiro, is a shrub native to New Zealand.
''Coprosma foetidissima'' is found throughout New Zealand, from the coast to sub-alpine areas, including grassland and shrubland. Stinkwood is ...
'' and ''
Muehlenbeckia australis.
''
Other shrubs, such as ''
Schefflera digitata
''Schefflera digitata'', the patē, seven-finger, or umbrella tree, is a tree endemic to New Zealand belonging to the family Araliaceae. Māori names include: ''patē'', ''patatē'', ''patete'', and ''kōtētē''. It occurs in lowland to lower ...
'' and ''
Carmichaelia arborea'' were eliminated from all but inaccessible sites.''
''
Ruth Mason examined the stomach contents of 39 specimens from the expedition, which included "twigs, leaf fragments, and seeds", and found that there were between four and 21 different identifiable plants in each stomach sample.''
Griselinia littoralis'' was the most frequent and abundant plant found, with ''
Nothofagus menziesii
''Nothofagus menziesii'', commonly known as silver beech, is a species of evergreen tree in the family Nothofagaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is widespread in the North and South Islands. It reaches a height of up to tall, with a tr ...
'' in second place, but several other trees and shrubs, as well as ferns, grasses, sedges were also able to be identified from the stomach remains.''
''
The land surveyors carried out a major triangulation of the study area of 100 square miles, but they could only use the theodolite on fine days, when the weather was clear.
During the five months of the expedition, the team had only 15
(or possibly 17
) fine days, yet they still managed to "provide height and position control for detailed mapping form aerial photographs".
They ascended most of the prominent peaks in the study area - sometimes twice - many of which had not likely been climbed before, and at one point they spent 5 weeks surveying without returning to base camp.
Their efforts would greatly improved the detail of maps in Fiordland.
Additional reports on the following topics were also written up: geology, climate, botany (including a list of plants observed and their abundance),
forests, small introduced mammals (possums, rats, mice and mustelids), invertebrates, fish (freshwater and marine), birds, land survey, and opportunities for tourism.''
'' A number of scientific specimens was collected by the expedition scientists; for example, there are over 200 plant specimens at
Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research Allan Herbarium (labelled "N.Z. – American Fiordland Expedition"). Notable finds by the expedition included a cache of Māori adzes, two
kākāpō
The kākāpō (; : ; ''Strigops habroptilus''), sometimes known as the owl parrot or owl-faced parrot, is a species of large, nocturnal, ground-dwelling parrot of the superfamily Strigopoidea. It is endemic to New Zealand.
Kākāpō can be u ...
, twelve species of
Opiliones
The Opiliones (formerly Phalangida) are an Order (biology), order of arachnids,
Common name, colloquially known as harvestmen, harvesters, harvest spiders, or daddy longlegs (see below). , over 6,650 species of harvestmen have been discovered w ...
(of which most were new species), and up to twenty new species of spiders.

The holotype specimen of a new species of
wētā
Wētā (also spelled weta in English) is the common name for a group of about 100 insect species in the families Anostostomatidae and Rhaphidophoridae endemism, endemic to New Zealand. They are giant wingless insect, flightless cricket (insect ...
, ''Zealandosandrus fiordensis'' (now called ''
Hemiandrus fiordensis'') was collected by Richard Dell on this expedition and described by
John Salmon in 1950.
Cameramen from the National Film Unit spent 10 days on the expedition making an eleven-minute film entitled, "Fiordland Expedition, 1949", which was released in late May 1949.
The 16mm film was said to be 1000 feet long, "includes a sequence of scenic shots and others on camp life",
and is stored in Te Papa's archive.
References
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Expeditions from New Zealand
Fiordland National Park
1949 in science
1949 in New Zealand