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Overview
Tuhinga 25: 25-101
ABSTRACT: New Zealand has had a complex history of wildlife protection, with at least 609 different pieces of legislation affecting the protection of native wildlife between 1861 and 2013. The first species to be fully protected was the tūī (Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae), which was listed as a native game species in 1873 and excluded from hunting in all game season notices continuously from 1878, until being absolutely protected in 1906. The white heron (Ardea modesta) and crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) were similarly protected nationwide from 1888, and the huia (Heteralocha acutirostris) from 1892. Other species listed as native game before 1903 were not consistently excluded from hunting in game season notices, meaning that such iconic species as kiwi (Apteryx spp.), kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), kōkako (Callaeas spp.), saddlebacks (Philesturnus spp.), stitchbird (Notiomystis cincta) and bellbird (Anthornis melanura) could still be taken or killed during the game season until they were absolutely protected in 1906. The tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) was added to the native game list in 1895, but due to inadequate legislation was not absolutely protected until 1907. The Governor of the Colony of New Zealand had the power to absolutely protect native birds from 1886, but this was not used until 1903, when first the blue duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchus) and then the huia were given the status of absolutely protected, followed by more than 130 bird species by the end of 1906. The groundbreaking Animals Protection Act 1907 listed 23 bird species, four genera, one family (cuckoos, Cuculidae) and tuatara as protected. The Animals Protection Amendment Act 1910 extended protection to all indigenous bird species, but led to confusion as to which bird species were ‘indigenous’. This confusion was removed by the Animals Protection and Game Act 1921–22, which presented a long list of absolutely protected species. The 1921–22 Act introduced further problems through omission of species that had not yet been discovered or named, including South Island snipe (Coenocorypha iredalei), Chatham Island mollymawk (Thalassarche eremita), Pycroft’s petrel (Pterodroma pycrofti), Archey’s frog (Leiopelma archeyi) and Westland petrel (Procellaria westlandica). The Wildlife Act 1953 avoided missing unknown species by reverting to the 1910 approach of making everything protected unless listed as ‘not protected’. Further, by covering both native and introduced species, the 1953 Act was able to avoid use of ambiguous terms such as ‘indigenous’. The 1953 Act has provided a stable platform for wildlife protection for 60 years, including allowing the addition of selected threatened terrestrial invertebrates in 1980, 1986 and 2010, and all New Zealand lizards in 1981 and 1996. The reasons why species were protected are explained.
KEYWORDS: Environmental legislation, history of legal protection, terrestrial fauna, indigenous, wildlife, museum collections, native game, animal protection, New Zealand.