The Murchison Mountains are a group of mountains in

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of , and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park i ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is the location where the South Island takahē, a type of bird presumed extinct, was rediscovered in 1948. The highest mountain is Mount Lyall at .

Flora and fauna

Native birds recorded in the area include takahē,

mohua Mohua may refer to: *Golden Bay / Mohua, a bay at the northwest end of New Zealand's South Island *Yellowhead (bird) or mohua, a small bird endemic to the South Island of New Zealand *The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs The Ministry of Hou ...

, whio,

kea The kea (; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the family Nestoridae found in the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange under its wing ...

, kaka, kakariki,

New Zealand falcon The New Zealand falcon ( mi, kārearea or ''kāiaia''; ''Falco novaeseelandiae'') is New Zealand's only falcon. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk. It is frequently mistaken for the larger and more common swamp harrie ...

weka The weka, also known as the Māori hen or woodhen (''Gallirallus australis'') is a flightless bird species of the rail family. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is the only extant member of the genus '' Gallirallus''. Four subspecies are recogni ...

rock wren The rock wren (''Salpinctes obsoletus'') is a small songbird of the wren family native to western North America, Mexico and Central America. It is the only species in the genus ''Salpinctes''. Description Measurements: * Length: 4.9-5.9 i ...

tomtit The tomtit (''Petroica macrocephala'') is a small passerine bird in the family Petroicidae, the Australasian robins. It is endemic to the islands of New Zealand, ranging across the main islands as well as several of the outlying islands. In M� ...

, tui, bellbird,

fantail Fantails are small insectivorous songbirds of the genus ''Rhipidura'' in the family Rhipiduridae, native to Australasia, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Most of the species are about long, specialist aerial feeders, and named as " ...

rifleman A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifling, rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction o ...

grey warbler The grey warbler (''Gerygone igata''), also known by its Māori name or outside New Zealand as the grey gerygone, is an insectivorous bird in the family Acanthizidae endemic to New Zealand. Its natural habitat is temperate forest A for ...

brown creeper The brown creeper (''Certhia americana''), also known as the American treecreeper, is a small songbird, the only North American member of the treecreeper family Certhiidae. Description Adults are brown on the upper parts with light spotting, r ...

silver-eye The silvereye or wax-eye (''Zosterops lateralis'') is a very small omnivorous passerine bird of the south-west Pacific. In Australia and New Zealand its common name is sometimes white-eye, but this name is more commonly used to refer to all membe ...

pipit The pipits are a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan genus, ''Anthus'', of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Along with the wagtails and longclaws, the pipits make up the family (biology), family Motacillidae. The genus is wide ...

and

kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...

. The 1948 discovery of the takahe, the largest living member of the

rail Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

family, happened after unrecognized bird footprints were found, and

Geoffrey Orbell Geoffrey Buckland Orbell (7 October 1908 – 14 August 2007) was a New Zealand doctor and keen tramper (bush walker) who was responsible for the rediscovery of the takahē in 1948. Biography Orbell grew up on a farm at Pukeuri, near Oam ...

, an

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

-based physician, led an expedition to find the unknown bird. After this, an area of was set aside for the conservation of the takahē. To this day it is the only place where wild takahē can be seen. It is the longest running conservation programme in

. With the aim of protecting the native bird populations, the

New Zealand Department of Conservation The Department of Conservation (DOC; Māori: ''Te Papa Atawhai'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with the conservation of New Zealand's natural and historical heritage. An advisory body, the New Zealand Conservation Au ...

started a program in 2002 to control

stoats The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Conc ...

in the area. In 2007, a population increase of stoats in the mountains after a

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and tussock

mast seeding Mast is the fruit of forest trees and shrubs, such as acorns and other nuts. The term derives from the Old English ''mæst'', meaning the nuts of forest trees that have accumulated on the ground, especially those used historically for fattening ...

led to a halving of the takahē population. The numbers of

red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

in the Murchison Mountains steadily grew between 1930 and 1973 but hunting on foot and helicopter reduced the population by 60% between 1973 and 1975. In a 1953 expedition to the Murchison Mountains for the Canterbury Museum, W. R. Philipson discovered a new type of plant from the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Pachycladon, '' Pachycladon crenata''. A study in 2007 found that the

population in the Murchison Mountains had dropped by 44% in the last 20 years compared with a study in 1989.

References

External links

DoC page on Murchison Mountains
Mountain ranges of Fiordland Fiordland National Park {{fiordland-geo-stub