An historical review of animal movement, exotic disease and quarantine in New Zealand and Australia

Abstract

Extract

Most of the diseases that still afflict those animals of economic importance with which we are most concerned are as exotic as the animals themselves. The entry of both animals and their diseases into New Zealand and Australia were concomitant. Thus, in an historical review one might begin with the arrival in New Zealand of the exotic subspecies Homo sapiens europaeus (Linnaeus, 1758) on December 19, 1642, when Abel Tasman arrived at Murderer's Bay (Tasman, 1642) now named Golden Bay. Although four of his ship's company were killed by the Maoris, no landing was made and, therefore, we can also be fairly certain that no animals came ashore. Thus, the storymore properly starts with the first voyage of discovery by Captain Cook between 1768 and 1771. His impressions of both New Zealand and Australia were prophetic; on March 31, 1770, he writes of New Zealand: