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BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ON NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand formed from the super-continent of Gondwanaland.
Gondwanaland is the Southern Hemispheres super-continent made up of what are
know known as the continents of Africa, Antarctica, Australia and South America
as well as India, Madagascar and New Zealand. Gondwanaland and its counterpart
Laurasia (for the Northern Hemisphere) once joined as part of Pangea, the
mega-continent. As the tectonic plates shifted, the landmasses drifted apart (as
they still do today). Roughly 80 million years ago New Zealand separated from
Gondwanaland along the edge of what would become Australia. Australia separated
about 30 million years later from Antarctica.
Since the time frame separating New Zealand was greater than of its
neighbor Australia the faunas were not the same. The animal species that
migrated to the islands did so on wing, in such a time when the distances
between New Zealand and other coastal areas were close to each other. New
Zealand boasts some of the oldest terrestrial life on Earth. The beech forests
originated in South America, and the ones on New Zealand (as once part of South
America via the super-continent) are perhaps the longest surviving forests on
Earth.
Additionally, New Zealand boasts the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus
and Spehodon guntheri), an archaic reptile that has virtually remained unaltered
for over 200 million years. The primitive genus Leiopelma frongs (Leipelma
hochstetteri, L. hamiltoni and L. archeyi) are found in New Zealand as well.
These constitute the oldest lineage of frogs alive today, sharing
characteristics with fish and lacking characteristics associated with other
frogs (aside from an American cousin Ascaphus truei).
Flightless birds like the moa, kiwi, and kakapo have evolved in this
landscape. What were lacking were indigenous mammalian carnivores. There were
several bat species present on the mainland; the New Zealand short tailed bats
(Mystacina tuberculata and Mystacina robusta) and the lobe lipped bat of New
Zealand (Chalinolobus tuberculatus ) as well as the later arrival of pinnipeds
like the New Zealand sea lion (Phocartos hooker) and the New Zealand fur seal
(Arctocephalus forsteri). There may also have been a few small rodents native to
the island (the fossil records of a shrew like mammal 115 million years old was
found in 1997 in Australia). But lacking were the larger carnivores associated
with other continental landmasses.
It was not until humans began to arrive on the islands that the
animal diversities began to grow. With the arrival of the Maori (various dates
on their arrival abound, typically 1000 - 2000 years ago) the ecosystem changed.
The Polynesian Rat, or Kiore (Rattus exulans) was introduced as were dogs. Later
when explorers like James Cook and colonists arrived in the 1700's livestock and
foreign animals were introduced. Nowadays there are many mammals present in New
Zealand, amongst them seven species of deer, wild hogs, wallabies, possums, and
quolls to name a few are present or were present. These new inhabitants now
threaten the original animals and in some cases have brought them to the brink
of extinction, and over.
What does Waitoreke mean in a language aside from the Maori
language (the natives of New Zealand)? John Colarusso offers that the word Waitoreke
and kaureke that ended with "reke" are the closest of the various
spellings for translation. "reke" meaning quill or spur (knob and
bone), and when put with other Maori words Waitoreke translates (roughly) out to
water diver (with the) spurs. Kaureke would translate to many spurs, with
extension of kaurehe meaning monster and perhaps tuatara.
For all intents and purposes the term Waitoreke will be used here
out for this cryptid animal. Although kaureke may be a valid name as well (or a
separate animal altogether), the popular and more common Waitoreke will be
suitable.
The habitat of the Waitoreke varies little from report to
report. The animal is associated with water, and is seen in it or just beside
it. What does vary are the reports of what kind of home the Waitoreke lives in,
is it a lodge like a beaver or a tunnel system like some otters and the
platypus?
In 1855 Reverend Richard Taylor's book Te Ika A Maui, or, New
Zealand and Its Inhabitants, was published. In it is the following note:
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"A man named Seymour, or Otaki, stated that he had repeatedly seen an animal in the Middle Island [Note: Middle Island is actually modern South Island], near Dusky Bay, on the south-west coast, which he called a musk-rat, from the strong smell it emitted. He said its tail was thick and resembled the ripe pirori, the fruit of the kie-kie, which is not unlike in appearance to the tail of a beaver. This account was corroborated by Tamihana te Rauparaha, who spoke of it as being more than double the size of the Norway rat, and as having a large flat tail. A man named Tom Crib, who had been engaged in whaling and sealing in the neighborhood of Dusky Bay for more than twenty-five years, said he had not himself seen the beaver, but had several times met with its habitations, and had been surprised by seeing little streams dammed up, and houses like bee-hives erected on one side, having two entrances, one from above and the other below the dam. One of the Camerons, who lived at Kaiwarawara, when the settlers first came to Wellington, stated that he saw one of these large rats and pursued it, but it took to the water, and dived out of sight." |
In this account we have references to a beaver type lodge.
Yet, in 1921 one A.E. Trapper witnessed an animal while on a bridge crossing the
Waikiwi River. Shortly after he found a hole in a bank in the location the
animal disappeared in. And again in 1973 a G. Pollock, who had been researching
the animal, found a tunnel system in the reeds of a swamp on the Taieri Plain.
These two shelters described match different known animals.
So the question of living habitat is troublesome. The one item that
can be agreed upon is that aside from waterways, the Waitoreke lives in higher
elevations towards the southern portion of South Island. Elevations vary from
sea level to 3764 meters (12,349 feet) at Mount Cook in the Southern Alps across
the island, with lakes varying in altitudes. There are some exceptions to this
statement, as captain James Cook's crew described seeing an animal along the
coast in Dusky Sound: in 1773:
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"A four-footed animal was seen by three or four of our people; but as no two gave the same description of it, I cannot say what kind it is. All, however, agreed that it was about the size of a cat, with short legs, and of a mouse-color. One of the seamen, and he who had the best view of it, said it had a bushy tail, and was most like a jackal of any animal he knew." |
The theory that an otter is responsible for the reports of the Waitoreke is the most popular and common. In the 1867 Ferdinand van Hochstetter writes in his book on New Zealand:
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"My friend Haast writes me about the Waitoreki under the date of the 6th of June 1861 as follows: "3500 feet above sea level I saw at the upper Ashburton River, in an area where no human foot ever walked before me, its tracks on many occasions. The tracks resemble those of our European otter but are somewhat smaller. The animal itself was seen by two gentlemen who own a sheep ranch at the shore of Lake Heron in the neighborhood of the Ashburton River at an elevation of 2100 feet above sea level. They describe the animal of being of a dark brown color, of the same size as a large rabbit. They hit it with a whip. It emitted a whistling sound and disappeared quickly in the water among the weeds." |
Additional reports also detail some anatomical and behavioral
characteristics. In 1957 a woman saw an animal near the Aparima River that was
described as having small pop eyes and flat round ears. The neck was hidden, had
fur like a cat and short whiskers on its face. In 1971 a hunter, familiar with
NZ wildlife, watched an animal slide down a bank of the Hollyford River for a
period of about fifteen minutes. This animal was described as smooth, short
brown fur, small head with no visible neck or ears, tapering thick tail, and
91-107 cm (3 - 3.5 ft.).
Another witness in the early 1970's saw the animal eating a fish,
the webbing on its feet was visible. In 1971 tracks the size of matchboxes, with
indications of webbing, were found in a swamp on the Taieri Plain (same area
that Pollock later found the tunnel system).
Otters constitute a taxonomic status having thirteen known species,
however none is known south of the Wallace Line. The most likely candidate based
on the description is of a river otter. As this otter, unlike the sea otter
(Enhydra lutris), is a freshwater variety. Additionally the river otters do from
time to time come in close proximity to oceanic environments, especially along
the shorelines (as the Chillian variety, Lutra felina, often demonstrates). The
river otters closely match the Waitoreke. The have a brownish coat of short
dense fur, a rounded head, short necks, thick tapering tail, short legs, webbed
feet and small ears. Their size varies from 76 - 132 cm (2.5 - 4.3 ft) including
the tail. River otters rarely travel beyond a few hundred meters of a water body
and live in burrows in close proximity to the water. Additionally otters have
been known to travel many miles overland to find rivers, and in doing so they
travel by running and sliding. Additionally Walter Mantell records in 1838 an
interview with Tarawhatta of the Ngatimamoes:
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"He informed me that the length of the animal is about two feet from the point of the nose to the root of the tail; the fur grisly brown, thick short legs, bushy tail, head between that of a dog and a cat, lives in holes, the food of the land kind is lizards, of the amphibious kind, fish-does not lay eggs." |
Again this closely matches the description of the Waitoreke.
Where as the main substance of the otter is fish, however they are also known to
eat small reptiles, birds and mammals. This would be particularly important if
the otter were to travel over land from one river to another.
The other possibility in the otter theory is that a member of the
clawless otter genus aonyx may be responsible for the Waitoreke descriptions.
These otters typically range in size from 60 - 171 cm and are similar in
appearance to the river otter. However, one noticeable difference is that
clawless otters lack the clear cut webbing on their feet and posses smaller
claws. This is an important consideration as the Waitoreke has been described as
having webbing on its feet (sighting in 1970's near Opihi River, and track finds
in the same time frame on the Taieri Plains).
If the otter is to be considered, then it had to have traveled
across the ocean. This could occur in one of two ways, either it was brought to
New Zealand or it swam there on its own accord. G. Pollock offers the theory
that Indonesians visited New Zealand before the arrival of the Europeans. As
river otters are often trained to catch fish, they were on board with the
Indonesians and either escaped or were released. Thus, a male and a female at a
minimum had to have escaped in order to create a viable population. The other
possibility is that otters became caught in a current and either swam or floated
on flotsam over the distances from another continent to Oceana.
But, what do we make then of the bee-hive type dwellings that
were reported by Reverend Taylor and of the 1844 report of an animal near the
Clutha River that built homes similar to a beavers lodge? One of these, as the
report goes, was located on Lake Wanaka.
The first down side to this is the descriptions given of the Waitoreke,
or for that matter the kaureke (or kaurehe as Walter Mantell wrote in 1838),
that barely matches the conditions of a beaver. The basics of the animals are
the same as to coloration and fur quality, however the tail descriptions are
different. A beaver (genus Castor) has a flat paddle-like tail. This unique
characteristic is lacking in the description of the Waitoreke.
Beavers also build lodges to live in as well as dams to create still
water ways (if the area is still and deep then dams may not necessarily be
built). However, aside from the few aforementioned reports of bee-hive type
houses, there is a considerable lack of reports of lodges being found in the
waterways. Additionally there are no reports of downed trees that would be
associated with the beaver's habit, even if only rarely at times, of building
dams, lodges and canals. Behaviorally beavers are not prone to live around an
oceanic environment.
The pinnipeds are marine mammals that include the seals, sea
lions and walruses. Their distributions are worldwide, and of all the theories
as to what the Waitoreke is, the pinnipeds have a leg up ahead of the other
candidates. These mammals are present in New Zealand on their own. There are
three pinnipeds that stand out as possibilities: the New Zealand sea lion
(Phocartos hookeri), the New Zealand fur seal (Arctocephalus forsteri), and the
southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina)
The New Zealand sea lion, also called Hooker's sea lion, grow from
160 - 250 cm (5.2 - 8.2 ft.) depending on the sex. The males are the only ones
that exhibit a brownish coat, as the females show a grayish one. They have short
muzzles and round heads. Their feet are not made for terrestrial migrations or
long travels on the ground, as they have adapted flippers. These sea lions are
mostly segregated to coastal areas, however they have been known to travel
inland a couple miles during breeding season. They are also of the family
otariidae which are categorized as having visible ears, occasional freshwater
habitats and pronounced sexual dimorphism.
The New Zealand fur seal grows from 130 - 250 cm ( 4.2 - 8.2 ft)
depending on the sex. Their necks are large and they exhibit a brownish fur.
Again their legs are made of flippers, making land excursions short. They too
are of the family otariidae and as such show similar characteristics as the New
Zealand sea lion. The main food source for the fur seal is of oceanic nature,
being squid, octopus and fish.
The southern elephant seal is much larger than the sea lion or fur
seal, reaching lengths from 200-600 cm (6.5 - 19 ft.). As such their size alone
greatly reduces their chance of being the Waitoreke.
There are some other pinnipeds that do reach New Zealand on
occasion, these being the crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophagus) with a length
of 203-262 cm (6.6-8.6 ft.). They have a slim body with a long muzzle. Its main
food source being krill, and living predominately in Antarctica. They belong to
the family of phocidae and as such show characteristics such as no external
ears, some freshwater habitats and variable sexual dimorphism. The leopard seal
(Hydrurga leptonyx) also occasionally arrives in New Zealand from its Antarctic
home. Characterized by being 300-380 cm (9.8-12.5 ft) long and closely
resembling the crabeater seal. They are also of the family phocidae. The weddell
seal (Leptonychotes weddelli) also occasionally leaves Antarctica and arrives in
New Zealand. Their sizes are comparable to the leopard seal.
Although adapted in most cases for a freshwater habitat, pinnipeds
almost exclusively live in the oceans. There are some that live landlocked in
Russia, as well as some that will travel upstream into freshwater lakes (as in
Loch Ness). Although adaptable, their known sizes in that region of the world is
much larger than that described to the Waitoreke. Additionally the burrows (not
lodges) ascribed to the Waitoreke are not behaviorally consistent with the
pinnipeds. The footprints found (with webbing) also indicate a terrestrial
locomotion, of which pinnipeds are limited due to flippers instead of feet or
webbed feet.
In 1948 H. von Haast printed the following report by Sir Julius von
Haast (who previously supplied Ferdinand van Hochstetter's 1861 report) in The
Life and Times of Sir Julius von Haast:
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"Traces of a quadruped of smaller size, of nocturnal habits, and the stride which was between seven and eight inches, and indicates that its mode of progress was by jumps or springs, was discovered by me in the riverbed of the Hopkins, the stream which forms Lake Ohau, and as there is every reason to believe that this animal still exists in great numbers, hundreds of tracks having been found in one night in the fresh-falled snow, we may hope that some specimens of this entirely unknown quadruped will soon be obtained.". |
Monotremes are the egg laying mammals, encompassing the
platypus (Ornithorynchidae anatinus) and the echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus and
Zaglossus bruijni). Having archaic reptilian characteristics, such as shelled
eggs, skeletal structure and excretory system (end of the intestines, genial
ducts and excretory ducts share one single chamber), the monotremes are
considered the most primitive form of mammals alive now.
Identification of the Waitoreke through the monotreme line is
difficult. First the echidna needs to be discarded, as its physical appearance
is alien to the descriptions of the Waitoreke, having an anteater like snout and
porcupine like quills. The platypus is also posses a problem identification, as
its appearance is that of a biological jigsaw puzzle. Having the tail of a
beaver and the snout of a duck. Such an animal stands out in ones memory, if
only because of its difference. Two characteristics do match that of the
platypus; its feet are webbed as described by witnesses, and it does have the
right fur to match the description.
Yet, there are some reports of the Waitoreke stating it lays eggs as
Te Taumutu states to Walter Mantell in 1838. Also of note is that the etymology
of the Waitoreke suggests a bone spur, this is present on the males of the
monontremes. But, that is the end of the correlation. There is fossil evidence
of monotremes dating back 100 million years ago as demonstrated by the
fossilized jaw and teeth of Steropodon galmani from New South Wales, Australia
(1985) and the jawbone of Kollikodon ritchie (1995). This time frame of the
discovered fossils fits the time frame of the separation of New Zealand from
Gondwanaland, and offers the possibility that New Zealand once fostered
monotremata forms of life. If this lineage evolved, then the possibility arises
that a fourth species of monotremes exists and is responsible for the Waitoreke
sightings.
Does there exist any physical evidence for the Waitoreke? Sir
Julies von Haast reportedly obtained a skin of the Waitoreke in 1868. It was in
poor shape, but is described as brown with white spots lacking webbing between
the toes. Unfortunately this does not offer definitive proof for the existence
of the Waitoreke. In all likelihood the skin was of a variety of quoll, which
were released in New Zealand in 1868. The quoll are carnivorous marsupials from
Australia of which all known species have a brown coat and distinguishing white
spots on their skin
Track finds are the next and final physical evidence left. Although
circumstantial, they do offer some important clues. Tracks found in the Taieri
Plain swamp are described as showing webbing and being matchbox size. Sir Julias
von Haast had stated that that the stride of the Waitoreke was seven to eight
inches. Of all the animals theorized as the possible cause of the Waitoreke, the
track finds described point toward that of the otter or beaver.
River otters typically show a slight webbing in their tracks of the
hind feet, but seldom is highly visible. An adult otter normal has a foot spread
of 3 1/4 - 4 inches in width and length, with a varying stride depending on the
terrain and movement of 10 to 15 inches. Compared to a pinniped track which
offers no discernable foot, but a shuffle of earth. The beaver offers a distinct
webbing pattern in prints and is hind feet are 2 1/2 - 3 inches wide by 5 -6
inches long.
So the identification of the Waitoreke through tracks is just as
troublesome as through observation.
What is the Waitoreke? Even after looking at the various
theories it is a troublesome question to answer. Characteristics match those of
various known animals, but not all characteristics match a specific animal. Of
all the animals evaluated, the otter is the best fit. The behaviors described
such as sliding and diving are characteristic of the otter. The physical
descriptions closely match the otter (more so than the other animals theorized).
The habitat also closely matches that for the otter, with tunnel systems for
living and the ability to travel long distances over land.
The native people describe two animals, one amphibious the other
land dwelling. This matches the otter closely. As an animal traveling far from
water (cross-country) can be associated as a different animal than one observed
in the water. The smell of the musk reported on several occasions also matches
the otter. Vocalizations (such as described by Ferdinand van Hochstetter) also
match the otter, which is capable of a wide range of guttural sounds.
We also know that early mammals were present prior to New Zealand
separating from Gondwanaland. These include some early monotremes and placental
mammals. Through evolution a convergent species could have also arisen in New
Zealand to fill in an ecological gap. Additionally some of the reports could be
misidentifications of known animals. Small fur seals could have been
misidentified and been the reports of the Waitoreke along the coastal areas.
Another possibility is that the early reports (prior to the 1800's) are those of
something unknown, but the more recent ones are of an escaped animal kept
captive during colonization of New Zealand by the Europeans. So, if an alien
species was inadvertently or purposely released in the 1800's then more recent
sightings may be associated with such an animal. We know that many animals were
introduced into New Zealand, including ferrets, weasels and stoats (all show
similar characteristics associated with later Waitoreke reports). If the species
released shared a similar ecosystem as the Waitoreke it could in theory cause
the true Waitoreke to be exterminated. Thus an alien species takes over the
system, and throws another twist on the tale of the Waitoreke.
These are all possibilities, and none can be completely proven one
way or the other. Further study of the area is needed. For if the Waitoreke is
ever found, its nature could change how the mammalian family tree is shaped or
how the historical immigration of people to New Zealand is viewed.
