Retired professor of zoology.Life long student of the ecology of mustelids and rodents, especially the species introduced into New Zealand. Wide interests in philosophy and evolutionary biology.
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2007
Lorraine Daston and Greg Mitman (eds.), Thinking with Animals: New Perspectives on Anthropomorphi... more Lorraine Daston and Greg Mitman (eds.), Thinking with Animals: New Perspectives on Anthropomorphism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), pp. vii + 230. Paperback $25. ISBN 0-231-13039-2. Hardback $49.50. ISBN 0-231-13038-4.
New Zealand had no people or four-footed mammals of any size until it was colonised by Polynesian... more New Zealand had no people or four-footed mammals of any size until it was colonised by Polynesian voyagers and Pacific rats in c. 1280 AD. Between 1769 and 1920 AD, Europeans brought three more species of commensal rats and mice, and three predatory mustelids, plus rabbits, house cats hedgehogs and Australian brushtail possums. All have in turn invaded the whole country and many offshore islands in huge abundance, at least initially. Three species are now reduced to remnant populations, but the other eight remain widely distributed. They comprise an artificial but interacting and fully functional bottom-up predator-prey system, responding at all levels to interspecific competition, habitat quality and periodic resource pulsing.
Cats were frequently carried on European ships, supposedly to control rats, so both had similar o... more Cats were frequently carried on European ships, supposedly to control rats, so both had similar opportunities to reach New Zealand from 1769 onwards. On the North Island, the first cats were often killed by Māori for their meat and skins, but by the 1840s, cats were accompanying European settlers into the bush. On the South Island, cats were uncommon until the 1870s, when they were often transported inland by pastoralists to control rabbits and by gold-diggers plagued by rats and mice. Feral populations of cats established from these sources are now common throughout all the inhabited islands. Cats also had multiple opportunities to reach at least 35 offshore islands, by accident or as deliberate introductions. Their exterminations (local or total) of vulnerable native birds and lizards, previously protected by their isolation, have been well documented on Stephens, Herekopare, Little Barrier, Stewart and Macquarie Islands. Eradication techniques targeting both cats and rodents, preferably together, have now cleared all these islands and many others. Restoration of island habitats, and reintroduction programmes are observing the encouraging recovery of surviving endemic fauna on cat-free islands.
Stoats (Mustela erminea) are active hunters and, therefore, one might predict that any broken bon... more Stoats (Mustela erminea) are active hunters and, therefore, one might predict that any broken bones or other injuries impeding active movement would incur a serious risk of starvation. Dead stoats (n = 560) were collected from trappers operating predator control lines in three conservation areas of New Zealand from 1972-1978. Femurs were cleaned and examined for healed injuries and deformities. Five femurs from four stoats (one with both femurs injured) showed traumatic distortions following healing of complete breaks incurred during life. A further case recorded during post-eradication monitoring in 2010 on Rangitoto, an offshore island, is added. These data provide evidence that wild stoats have a remarkable capacity to tolerate catastrophic femur fractures. They can survive long enough, despite the implied limitation to their energetic hunting style, to permit full healing even though the result is a gross distortion of the femoral shaft.
The house mouse Mus musculus comprises three distinct subspecies. In New Zealand, it has 33 disti... more The house mouse Mus musculus comprises three distinct subspecies. In New Zealand, it has 33 distinct haplotypes from 8 clades of separate geographical origins. The distribution of so many distinguishable lineages of mice around the main and subantarctic islands throws new light on settlement history. The northern and southern ends of the country were colonised separately from different sources. Living mice in Otago, main Chatham Island and patchily in the North Island have discordant genomes, clear evidence of incomplete hybridisation on ships or in ports outside New Zealand. They show in unexpected detail how, and roughly when, West European Mus musculus domesticus encountered an independently evolved subspecies of house mice, the Southeast Asian M. m. castaneus. These ‘hybrids’ were first mice to arrive in the far south of the South Island, probably with sealers, and have spread north to meet M.m. domesticus at a clear contact zone. Most of the rest of the country was colonised multiple times by Western mice from British clades E and F. Clades A-D represent seven independent invasions of non-British stock, including on two offshore islands after shipping accidents. The northern subspecies M.m. musculus is represented in only two locations.
Summary: The prevalence of infestation of the skulls of stoats with the parasitic nematode Skrjab... more Summary: The prevalence of infestation of the skulls of stoats with the parasitic nematode Skrjabingylus nasicola was previously described in a national survey by King and Moody (1982). Since then, more samples from Craigieburn Forest Park and from the Eglinton Valley, Fiordland, have been collected, and a method of determining the actual ages of adult stoats has been developed. The extended samples are here examined for a relationship between infestation and age, which could not previously be tested. Prevalence generally increases with age, significantly so at Craigieburn. Stoats which had lived through one or more beech (Nothofagus solandri) mast years at Craigieburn were significantly more likely to be infested, when the effects of age were allowed for. The hypothesis is advanced that the paratenic host for S. nasicola in New Zealand is the feral house mouse, Mus musculus, which is more numerous after a heavy beech seed fall.
Over the decade 1883–1892, at least 7838 British stoats and weasels were landed in New Zealand. A... more Over the decade 1883–1892, at least 7838 British stoats and weasels were landed in New Zealand. At least 25 shipments are known, on named ships, with their consignees and destinations. The number of animals landed according to official customs import data adds up to many more than are listed in the shipping records, so these are minimum estimates. The programme was driven against all objections by Benjamin Bayly, the government’s supervising rabbit inspector, until he was dismissed in 1889 and the government withdrew support for the programme. After 1889, all consignments were commissioned by regional Rabbit Boards. The Allbones’ system of carrying live pigeons 1882–1890 was expensive but generally successful (survival rates c. 90%). Three of six shipments in 1891 recording catastrophic mortality caused serious financial losses to Rabbit Boards, which in 1892 switched to cheaper, locally bred ferrets. More weasels than stoats were landed (2622:963), and both spread widely throughout both main islands, but weasels are now rare. The two species were nearly the last alien predators to be introduced, and their effects on the native fauna are often less than those of rats, but kiwi chicks, rock wrens and beech forest endemics are especially vulnerable to stoats.
This chapter describes the history of the arrival and occupation of the Maori tribes that settled... more This chapter describes the history of the arrival and occupation of the Maori tribes that settled in the Pureora area; their original use of the forest for food resources; some of the most significant kainga (villages); the impacts on them of the European introductions of pigs and potatoes, and the famous feast of 1856 at Pukawa which marked the beginning of the King Movement.
We used systematic arrays of camera traps combined with site-occupancy analyses to estimate the s... more We used systematic arrays of camera traps combined with site-occupancy analyses to estimate the site-specific presence and probability of detection the principal target pests across the three main ...
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2007
Lorraine Daston and Greg Mitman (eds.), Thinking with Animals: New Perspectives on Anthropomorphi... more Lorraine Daston and Greg Mitman (eds.), Thinking with Animals: New Perspectives on Anthropomorphism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), pp. vii + 230. Paperback $25. ISBN 0-231-13039-2. Hardback $49.50. ISBN 0-231-13038-4.
New Zealand had no people or four-footed mammals of any size until it was colonised by Polynesian... more New Zealand had no people or four-footed mammals of any size until it was colonised by Polynesian voyagers and Pacific rats in c. 1280 AD. Between 1769 and 1920 AD, Europeans brought three more species of commensal rats and mice, and three predatory mustelids, plus rabbits, house cats hedgehogs and Australian brushtail possums. All have in turn invaded the whole country and many offshore islands in huge abundance, at least initially. Three species are now reduced to remnant populations, but the other eight remain widely distributed. They comprise an artificial but interacting and fully functional bottom-up predator-prey system, responding at all levels to interspecific competition, habitat quality and periodic resource pulsing.
Cats were frequently carried on European ships, supposedly to control rats, so both had similar o... more Cats were frequently carried on European ships, supposedly to control rats, so both had similar opportunities to reach New Zealand from 1769 onwards. On the North Island, the first cats were often killed by Māori for their meat and skins, but by the 1840s, cats were accompanying European settlers into the bush. On the South Island, cats were uncommon until the 1870s, when they were often transported inland by pastoralists to control rabbits and by gold-diggers plagued by rats and mice. Feral populations of cats established from these sources are now common throughout all the inhabited islands. Cats also had multiple opportunities to reach at least 35 offshore islands, by accident or as deliberate introductions. Their exterminations (local or total) of vulnerable native birds and lizards, previously protected by their isolation, have been well documented on Stephens, Herekopare, Little Barrier, Stewart and Macquarie Islands. Eradication techniques targeting both cats and rodents, preferably together, have now cleared all these islands and many others. Restoration of island habitats, and reintroduction programmes are observing the encouraging recovery of surviving endemic fauna on cat-free islands.
Stoats (Mustela erminea) are active hunters and, therefore, one might predict that any broken bon... more Stoats (Mustela erminea) are active hunters and, therefore, one might predict that any broken bones or other injuries impeding active movement would incur a serious risk of starvation. Dead stoats (n = 560) were collected from trappers operating predator control lines in three conservation areas of New Zealand from 1972-1978. Femurs were cleaned and examined for healed injuries and deformities. Five femurs from four stoats (one with both femurs injured) showed traumatic distortions following healing of complete breaks incurred during life. A further case recorded during post-eradication monitoring in 2010 on Rangitoto, an offshore island, is added. These data provide evidence that wild stoats have a remarkable capacity to tolerate catastrophic femur fractures. They can survive long enough, despite the implied limitation to their energetic hunting style, to permit full healing even though the result is a gross distortion of the femoral shaft.
The house mouse Mus musculus comprises three distinct subspecies. In New Zealand, it has 33 disti... more The house mouse Mus musculus comprises three distinct subspecies. In New Zealand, it has 33 distinct haplotypes from 8 clades of separate geographical origins. The distribution of so many distinguishable lineages of mice around the main and subantarctic islands throws new light on settlement history. The northern and southern ends of the country were colonised separately from different sources. Living mice in Otago, main Chatham Island and patchily in the North Island have discordant genomes, clear evidence of incomplete hybridisation on ships or in ports outside New Zealand. They show in unexpected detail how, and roughly when, West European Mus musculus domesticus encountered an independently evolved subspecies of house mice, the Southeast Asian M. m. castaneus. These ‘hybrids’ were first mice to arrive in the far south of the South Island, probably with sealers, and have spread north to meet M.m. domesticus at a clear contact zone. Most of the rest of the country was colonised multiple times by Western mice from British clades E and F. Clades A-D represent seven independent invasions of non-British stock, including on two offshore islands after shipping accidents. The northern subspecies M.m. musculus is represented in only two locations.
Summary: The prevalence of infestation of the skulls of stoats with the parasitic nematode Skrjab... more Summary: The prevalence of infestation of the skulls of stoats with the parasitic nematode Skrjabingylus nasicola was previously described in a national survey by King and Moody (1982). Since then, more samples from Craigieburn Forest Park and from the Eglinton Valley, Fiordland, have been collected, and a method of determining the actual ages of adult stoats has been developed. The extended samples are here examined for a relationship between infestation and age, which could not previously be tested. Prevalence generally increases with age, significantly so at Craigieburn. Stoats which had lived through one or more beech (Nothofagus solandri) mast years at Craigieburn were significantly more likely to be infested, when the effects of age were allowed for. The hypothesis is advanced that the paratenic host for S. nasicola in New Zealand is the feral house mouse, Mus musculus, which is more numerous after a heavy beech seed fall.
Over the decade 1883–1892, at least 7838 British stoats and weasels were landed in New Zealand. A... more Over the decade 1883–1892, at least 7838 British stoats and weasels were landed in New Zealand. At least 25 shipments are known, on named ships, with their consignees and destinations. The number of animals landed according to official customs import data adds up to many more than are listed in the shipping records, so these are minimum estimates. The programme was driven against all objections by Benjamin Bayly, the government’s supervising rabbit inspector, until he was dismissed in 1889 and the government withdrew support for the programme. After 1889, all consignments were commissioned by regional Rabbit Boards. The Allbones’ system of carrying live pigeons 1882–1890 was expensive but generally successful (survival rates c. 90%). Three of six shipments in 1891 recording catastrophic mortality caused serious financial losses to Rabbit Boards, which in 1892 switched to cheaper, locally bred ferrets. More weasels than stoats were landed (2622:963), and both spread widely throughout both main islands, but weasels are now rare. The two species were nearly the last alien predators to be introduced, and their effects on the native fauna are often less than those of rats, but kiwi chicks, rock wrens and beech forest endemics are especially vulnerable to stoats.
This chapter describes the history of the arrival and occupation of the Maori tribes that settled... more This chapter describes the history of the arrival and occupation of the Maori tribes that settled in the Pureora area; their original use of the forest for food resources; some of the most significant kainga (villages); the impacts on them of the European introductions of pigs and potatoes, and the famous feast of 1856 at Pukawa which marked the beginning of the King Movement.
We used systematic arrays of camera traps combined with site-occupancy analyses to estimate the s... more We used systematic arrays of camera traps combined with site-occupancy analyses to estimate the site-specific presence and probability of detection the principal target pests across the three main ...
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Papers by Carolyn King