Wild Arapawa Goat on Arapawa Is
Photograph Courtesy of : Cameron Leslie
Arapawa Goat Origin & Timeline
The Arapawa goat’s origins are closely linked to early European explorers, likely descended from goats brought to New Zealand around the late 18th century.
Their introduction is tied to Captain Cook’s expeditions, which presented the goats as gifts to local Maori.
Isolated on Arapawa Island, these goats evolved into a distinct, genetically unique breed over the centuries that followed.
Arapawa Goat
History & Timeline
The Arapawa goat’s fascinating history begins with its introduction to New Zealand over two centuries ago.
Originally believed to be descendants of goats brought by Captain Cook during his voyages, these unique creatures have since become critically endangered.
Historical records suggest that the first goats introduced to New Zealand were likely among the animals left by Captain James Cook during his South Pacific voyages.
Cook’s journals indicate that goats, along with poultry, sheep, cattle, and pigs, were introduced to benefit the local population [5 November 1773].
European explorers assumed that aside from native rats and Māori dogs, no other quadrupeds existed in New Zealand [3 June 1773].
Cook also documented the unfamiliarity of goats to the existing inhabitants, noting a young Māori woman’s astonished reaction upon seeing one [19 April 1773].
Captain James Cook
Image Source : Google
A boy with poultry and a goat in a farmyard. Artist : Charles Hunt (1829-1900)
Image Source : Google
New Zealand's
First Goats
If Captain Cook did bring the first goats to New Zealand, they likely came from a few different places.
One goat on board the Endeavour was a Milch goat, which matches the look of today’s Arapawa goats.
Goats and other livestock were also loaded onto the Resolution at the Cape Verde Islands and Cape Town.
Recent DNA testing shows Arapawa goats aren’t related to the goats currently found in those regions.
Interestingly, unlike other animals on board, male and female goats weren’t kept apart, so breeding happened during the voyage—evidenced by stories like “Old Will” the ram goat roaming freely and kids being born en route.
Captain Cook’s
Voyages to New Zealand
The primary purpose behind Cook’s first sailing to the South Pacific was supposedly to observe the transit of Venus.
Villiers (1967) disputes this: “…their ‘yarn’ about sailing to the Pacific to “observe the transit of Venus across the disk of the Sun” at some unheard-of island was regarded as a yarn indeed.
Which, of course, it was: prior rights of discovery and flag-raising in Terra Australia was the real objective.” (p 103).
Cooks Voyages
Image Source : Google
That goats on board sailing ships were routine is depicted in Hearne’s 1775 watercolour of the quarter-deck on the Deal Castle
Image Courtesy of : National Maritime Museum, UK.
Captain Cook's
First Voyage
to
New Zealand
Whatever the motive, it is the relationship between Captain James Cook’s journeys and the origins of the present day New Zealand Arapawa goat that is of interest.
There is evidence that a goat travelled on the Endeavour with Captain James Cook: “While the Endeavour was fitting out, Wallis returned from the second Dolphin voyage.
The Dolphin made other useful contributions, including several officers, petty officers and seamen, and a handsome goat said to be quite a ‘sea-dog’ and a good milker.
This unusual goat had already survived one circum-navigation: now it was to make another.
Many goats went to sea in those days aboard Indiamen and the like, but the Dolphin’s was the only circumnavigator.” (Villiers 1967: 86).
Timeline of Cook's First Voyage
26th August 1768 “The goat from the Dolphin, perhaps realising that she was off on another circumnavigation, bleated forlornly. Too experienced an old goat to get in the way on sailing day, the Endeavour’s small decks bothered her for she did not know where to go, so she got under the shelter of the long boat and lay down.” (Villiers 1967: 87) 30th August 1768 The Endeavour faces a storm where poultry and a boat are lost (Dickinson 2011): “The ship’s cats, Mr Bank’s dogs, and the wise old goat berthed themselves in a dry corner of the lower deck, out of the way, and survived. Dry corners, indeed, were scarce: for the upper works leaked and required more caulking, which could not be done at sea. But the goat soon learned her way about.” (Villiers 1967: 91) At Sea “The seamen, when they could, fished overside industriously. But oxen could get scurvy too, or at any rate thin down to uselessness without it, and sheep took poorly to sea life. This left hens, hogs, and goats: in good weather the poultry prospered. The goats prospered always.” (Villiers 1967: 99) On Reaching Tahiti “... the old goat from the Dolphin looked enviously at the greenery ashore. The goat, indeed, was carefully tethered, for the moment, to keep her out of the way, and also, perhaps, to stop her butting people of importance as they came aboard. Perhaps annoyed at the surly reception of the Dolphin two years before, the goat had then distinguished herself by charging the hind-quarters of the first Tahitian to come over the rail and knocking him overboard, whereat all the other Tahitians paddled away as furiously as they could. A goat was a new beast to them. Now they could see the old reprobate secured on deck, and they watched her warily. The Chief Owha’a, braving the goat’s anger, came up the side ladder as chief of the welcoming committee, all smiles.” (Villiers 1967: 116) 13th July 1769 On the Endeavour leaving Tahiti: “Even the goat from the Dolphin, which had enjoyed the life ashore (and very probably also the power of terrorising the natives with a glare from those baleful eyes and a toss of her twisted horns) was comfortable again on the hard deck in the lee of the longboat.” (Villiers 1967: 125) 23rd January 1770 Having first set foot on New Zealand soil on 9th October 1769, and anchoring in Ships Cove in Queen Charlotte Sounds on 16th January 1770, accompanied by a seaman Cook explores the north-west side of Arapawa Island and climbs the hill; below him lies Tory Channel: “I was abundantly recompensed for the trouble I had in ascending the hill, for from it I saw what I took to be the Eastern Sea and a strait or passage from it into the Western Sea a little to the Eastward of the entrance of the Inlet in which we now lay with the Ship ...” (Beaglehole 1955: 238) 24th January 1770 That Cook had animals on board the Endeavour on his first voyage to New Zealand is evidenced by this journal entry: “the Long-boat was sent with a gang of hands to one of the Islands to cut grass for our sheep ...” While not identifying goats specifically, we know that there was at least one nanny goat on board and can assume that the collected grass would be offered to her. This is confirmed by Bank’s reference below: 2nd October 1770 Banks refers to a goat on board when referring to feeding buffalo: “during their stay on board had not had more victuals than any one of them could have eat in a day and that the remainder of some bad hay which the goat had dungd upon time immemorial almost.” 14th April 1771 On their return home to England, Banks observed that there were an abundance of goats available in Cape Town: “Here are goats, but they are never eaten,” (Hawkesworth 1773: 787) Mid-June 1771 (The Endeavour is on her way home to England and is being cleaned at the Cape of Good Hope in preparation for the final passage to the Channel and home): “... the remnants of the livestock scraped from the fore-deck though a few sheep from the Cape survived there a while longer and the old goat from the Dolphin still prospered.” (Villiers 1967: 146) 13th July 1771 “She anchored in the Downs. It was Saturday, July 13, 1771. There were fifty-six men and boys aboard of the ninety-four who had left England almost three years earlier – fifty-six men and, of course, the indestructible old goat from the Dolphin, the first goat in history to survive two circumnavigations.” (Villiers 1967: 168) 29th July 1771 On their return to the UK the following newspaper extract in the General Evening Post (possibly written by Cook) clearly confirms the presence of a goat on the Endeavour: “Before I conclude, I must not omit how highly we have been indebted to a milch goat: she was three years in the West Indies, and was once round the world before in the Dolphin, and never went dry the whole time; we mean to reward her services in a good English pasture for life.” (Beaglehole 1955: 649) In England Dr Johnson’s efforts were confined to the production of an epigram* (see below) for the famous circumnavigating goat, which was honourably retired to a rich pasture – a better fate than that of many of the old seamen. (Hawkesworth 1773: 787) 28th March 1772 The goat that sailed the world with Captain Cook dies. (Beaglehole 1974: 291). Given that Cook did not survive after his third voyage to New Zealand and that it was Banks and Solander who later sought recognition for the little goat who sailed with them on the Endeavour, one can only surmise that she was a favourite, not only with Cook, but also the crew. Clearly the Old English goat was a highly respected and appreciated participant in Cook’s inaugural voyage to New Zealand is evidenced in Beaglehole’s (1955: cxxxiii) introduction: “Here no doubt should also be mentioned, as a valuable member of the ship’s company, the goat. It was a goat that had been round the world with Wallis, and it was transferred to Cook so that South Sea coffee should still have its milk. It finds no place in the official documents, but Banks and Solander enlarged upon it to the Lexicographer, and asked him for a motto; and the great man obliged.” ‘Perpetua ambita bis terra praemia lactis Haec habet altrici Capra secunda Jovis.’ ‘Thus translated by a friend,’ adds Boswell: ‘In fame scarce second to the nurse of Jove, This Goat, who twice the world had traversed round, Deserving both her master’s care and love, Ease and perpetual pasture now has found.’ 1912 Albert William Macy published the following report on “A Much Traveled Goat” in his book Curious Bits of History: “About the year 1772 there died at Mile End, England, a well informed goat, if traveling and seeing the world would make it so. It twice circumnavigated the globe; first in the discovery ship Dolphin, with Captain Wallis, and afterward in the ship Endeavorer, commanded by the celebrated Captain Cook. The Dolphin sailed from England August 22, 1766, and returned May 20, 1768. It visited many lands, including numerous islands of the Pacific, on this voyage. The goat did not remain ashore very long, for the Endeavorer sailed from Plymouth August 25, 1768. The vessel touched at Maderia, doubled Cape Horn, spent six months along the coast of New Zealand, and visited many other strange countries. It got back to England June 12, 1771. In the three years Cook lost thirty of his eighty-five men, but the goat returned in apparent good health. Arrangements were made to admit her to the privileges of one of the government homes for sailors, but she did not live to enjoy them. She wore a silver collar, with a Latin inscription prepared by Dr Samuel Johnson.” (p 79). The significance of Cook’s first voyage to New Zealand, in relation to the present day Arapawa goats, was the value he saw in the Old English Milch goat that sailed with him, depicted by the fact that “she ended her days living at his family home in Yorkshire.” (Backhouse 2014: 96), as well as his exploration of Arapawa Island (perhaps identifying it then as a suitable site for introduced livestock to survive and flourish), the recognition of a scarcity of animals on New Zealand shores and observing an abundance of goats at Cape Town on his return to England.
Timeline of Cook's Second Voyage
According to the history books, the main objective of Cook’s second voyage was to circumnavigate the world as far south as possible in search of the Great Southern Land. For the purpose of this research, the significance of Cook’s second voyage, this time on the Resolution, was his introduction of goats into New Zealand and the secreting of goats onto Arapawa Island in particular. 13th July 1772 The following description given by Villiers clearly illustrates the presence of goats on board ‘Resolution’ and the accompanying ‘Adventure’ at the time they set sail from England, on Cook’s second voyage to New Zealand. “Both ships carried livestock – a small bullock or two, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry including geese – but the numbers are not given. Bullocks were quickly slaughtered and fodder for sheep could be carried only in small quantities, but the real trouble with livestock was their high consumption of fresh water.” (p 162) ... “The Resolution slipped out of Plymouth Sound early on the morning of July 13, 1772, with an accompaniment of bellowing bullocks, grunting hogs, cackling fowls, and gutteral goats and the bewildered sheep scampering for foothold in their pens. All these were customery shipboard sounds, proper at a ship’s sailing.” (p 164). Thursday 13th August 1772 On his second voyage to New Zealand, Cook reports purchasing livestock, including goats when at the Cape Verde Islands: “Governor General of the Cape de Verd Isles happened to be here at this time, he as well as the Governor or commander of the fort promised that I should be supplied with everything I wanted and the next day bullocks and other things should be brought out of the country for us; accordingly in the morning I sent a person ashore with money to purchase bullocks for the two sloops, ... In the evening we received on board one bullock, some Hogs, Goats and fruits. at the same time a message came from the general acquainting me that as the Bullocks etc were far in the country , the time was too short to drive them to town, but if I would wait tomorrow I might depend on having them. ... I readily acquiesced. ... Trade continued briskly, not a boat returned to the sloops without Hogs, goats, fowls and fruits.” (Cook 1772) Friday 14th August 1772 “In the evening we received on board one Bullock which was kill’d the next Morning and weig’d 270 pounds, some Hoggs, Goats and fruits were brought on board at the same time, but in no great plenty.” (Beaglehole 1961: 27) “The extreme scarcity of refreshments made our stay at Porto-Praya very short. We were therefore obliged to content ourselves with a few casks of brackish water, a single bullock, a few long-legged goats, with strait horns and pendulous ears, some lean hogs, turkies, and fowls, and a few hundreds of unripe oranges, and indifferent bananas.” (Forster 2000: 37) August 1772 While goats were brought on board as stock at Cape Verde Islands, an incident occurred there that clearly demonstrates the presence of ‘ships goats’ that could only have come from England: The Resolution carried on board some casks of beer brewed with essence of malt. The beer was fermenting and the casks were obviously under great pressure and bursting at the seams, so the barrels were brought on deck and the bungs were removed. There was an explosion like that of a small fowling piece and, to the dismay of the sailors, the precious beer ran out all over the deck. Their dismay was offset by the delight of the ship’s goats, which started licking greedily at the desk and were soon staggering around in a drunken stupor. (Aughton 2004:34; see also Forster 1982:150) March 1773 - At Sea Johann Reinhold Forster described how some animals survived the ice and cold on their voyage to New Zealand. He also gives us an indication of the minimum number of goats on board Resolution: “no more convenient place could be devised than the space between my and the Masters Cabin. I was now beset with cattle & stench on both Sides, having no other but a thin deal partition full of chinks between me & them. The room offered me by Capt Cook, & which the Masters obstinacy deprived me of, was now given to very peaceably bleating creatures, who on a stage raised up as high as my bed, shit and pissed on one side, while 5 goats did the same afore on the other side.” (Forster 1773: 233) Sunday 28th March 1773 - In Dusky Sound at Cascade Cove: “The few sheep and goats we had left were not likely to fair quite so well here being neither pasture nor grass to eat but what is course and harsh, nevertheless we were surprised to find that they would not eat it as they had not tasted either grass or hay for these many Weeks past, nor did they seem over fond of the leaves of more tender plants and shrubs, upon examination we found their teeth loose and that many of them had every symptom of an inveterate Sea Scurvy.” (Beaglehole 1961: 112) Monday 19th April 1773 “In the PM the family of the natives before mentioned made us a nother Viset and in the morning the Chief and his Daughter were induced to come on board while the rest of the family went out in the Canoe a-fishing, before they came on board I shew’d them the Sheep and Goats which they viewed for a moment with a kind of stupid insensibility, after this I conducted them to the brow” ... [where the chief struck the ship’s side with the branch]. (Beaglehole 1961: 122) “In the morning, the man resolved to come on board with the young woman, but sent the rest of his family a-fishing in the canoe. He walked with her round the cove, to the place where we had made a stage or temporary bridge from the vessel to the shore. Before they entered upon this, they were conducted to a place on the hill, where we kept our sheep and goats, which they seemed to be much surprised with, and desired to possess; but as we foresaw that they must die for want of proper food if we left them here, we could not comply with this request.” (Forster 2000: 97) 23rd May 1773 Cook notes in his journal when anchored in Queen Charlotte Sounds “[Maori] were even more delighted with a gift of breeding hogs and goats, provided by pooling the livestock of both ships.” This implies that Ferneaux also had goats on board the Adventure. Wednesday 2nd June 1773 Cook et al put goats on Arapawa Island, unbeknownst to Maori, with the intent of their survival and propagation: “This Morning I went over to the East side of the Sound accompanied by Captain Furneaux and Mr Forster, there I put a Shore two Goats male and female, the latter was old but had two fine Kids, some time before we arrived in Dusky Bay, which were both kill’d by the cold as I have already mentioned, the male was something more than twelve months old: Captain Furneaux hath put a Shore in Canibals Cove a Boar and a Breeding Sow so that we have reason to hope that in process of time this Country will be stocked with Goats and Hoggs; there is no great danger that the Natives will destroy them as they are exceedingly afraid of both, besides as they have not the least knowlidge of them being left, they will grow so Wild before they are discovered as not to suffer any one to come near them. The Goats will undoubtedly take to the Mountains and the Hoggs to the Woods where there is plenty of food for both.” (Beaglehole 1961: 169) “The next morning we accompanied the captains Cook and Furneaux to East Bay, and Grass Cove, where they intended to collect a load of antiscorbutic greens. We had not only endeavoured to leave useful European roots in this country, but we were likewise attentive to stock its wilds with animals, which in time might become beneficial to the natives, and to future generations of navigators. To this purpose captain Furneaux had already sent a boar and two sows to Canibal Cove, where they had been turned into the woods to range at their own pleasure; and we now deprived ourselves, with the same view, of a pair of goats, male and female, which we left in an unfrequented part of East Bay. These places had been fixed upon, in hopes that our new colonists would there remain unmolested by the natives, who indeed were the only enemies they had to fear...” (Forster 2000: 126)
Timeline of Cook's Third Voyage to the South Sea's
& Developments since...
The purpose of Cook’s third and final voyage to the South Pacific was to ascertain the possibility of a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. The Resolution left Plymouth, England, on 12 July 1776, accompanied by the Discovery which was Captained by Charles Clerke. This was Clerke’s second voyage to New Zealand; he had been an officer on the Resolution. 23 - 30 November 1776 Cook collected goats and other animals from the Cape of Good Hope. He wrote in his journal: “I added two young Bulls [names other animals] and Goats and some Rabbits and Poultry, all of them intended for New Zealand ... where there was prospect that the leaving of some of them might prove useful to posterity.” (p 30; Edwards 1955: 440). 21 - 27 February 1777 On 21st Feb 1777 Cook was visited by tribe of 30+ Maori from the Upper part of the Sound. On 24th Feb he writes: “these two chiefs begged of me some goats and hogs. I accordingly gave to that first (Matahouah) two goats male and female, the latter with kid” (he was later told by two youths that one of the chiefs had Cook’s hens and a sow which Captain Ferneaux put on shore)... “Those which Captain Ferneaux put on shore and soon after fell into their hands, I was told were dead, but they seem to know nothing of those I left in the West Bay and Cannibal Cove when I was here last voyage, and they all say that poultry are now wild in the woods behind Ships Cove” (he talks about wanting to leave more animals and goats but couldn’t guarantee they’d be protected - stated that he let the goats go to Matahouah “to take their chance”. He also states “I have at different times left in this country (?animals) or a dozen hogs, besides those which Captain Ferneaux put on shore so it will be a little extraordinary if there is not a breed either in a wild or domesticated or both.” (Cook’s Journal, Folio 93) The South Pacific evidence that it was English goats Cook was leaving rather than goats picked up as stock on the journey southwards is provided by Villiers (1967) when he describes Cooks third trip to the islands: “Cook distributed King George’s livestock – rams and ewes, a bull and two cows, a horse and mare, English goats, a fine English boar and sows...” (p 204) 1797 Mavor releases sketch of Maori child being butted by ‘Old Will’ the ram goat on the Endeavour. 1827 Guard is shipwrecked on Arapawa Island. No mention of goats is made in his later memoirs. (Grady 1978) September 1839 Edward Wakefield wrote that the half-caste children at Te Awaiti (Tory channel side of Arapawa Island) were as: “active and hardy as the goats with which the settlement also swarmed.” (Wakefield 1845: 50). Given that Guard established the whaling station at Te Awaiti in the late 1820s after being shipwrecked there is 1827 (Grady 1978), and that it is unlikely that the early settlers brought ‘swarms’ of goats with them, it is probable that ‘swarms’ more likely developed over 60+ years of breeding. I suggest then, that these are the feral goats that were domesticated, living amongst Maori and settlers, and that there were also wild (feral) goats in the hills of Arapawa Island that thrived. 6th March 1906 An article on page 1 of the Marlborough Express confirms the belief that, at this time, the goats on Arapawa Island were the descendants of those left by Cook: “Mr R. Ewing has a commission to place fifty fresh “nannies” upon the island [referring to Motuara Island near Cannibal Cove], and these will be caught on Cape Koamuro [the northernmost point of Arapawa] where the animal abounds. It is here pertinent to query whether these mountain goats are the actual progeny of those liberated in 1773 by Captain Cook? He certainly did, unknown to the Maoris, who had unceremoniously killed a previous gift, let some goats go in the bush in the vicinity.” 1954 Old English goats are thought to be extinct in England. 1971 Betty and Walt Rowe settle at Aotea, in East Bay, Arapawa Island. (Rowe 1988) 1976 Government cull of Arapawa Island goats implemented by the NZ Forest Service and endorsed by the Marlborough Sounds Maritime Park Board. 1987 Betty and Walt set aside 300 acres of their land on Arapawa Island as a sanctuary for the Arapawa Island goats. 1988 The story of Betty Rowe and the Arapawa Island goats: Arapawa - Once Upon an Island, is published by The Halcyon Press. (Rowe 1988) 1992 New Zealand Government pledged to play its part in halting the decline in global biodiversity at the Rio Earth Conference. 1993 A founding herd of Arapawa goats is exported to a living museum in Plymouth, Massachusets, USA. 1994 New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) builds a 4 km fence around part of the scenic reserve land to restrict the movement of goats and pigs into the forested part of Arapawa Island. This is only partially successful. To protect the vegetation, DOC states “ongoing goat and pig control is needed to reduce their numbers ... this control has generally taken place each year.” (Department of Conservation 2008). 2000 New Zealand’s Biodiversity Strategy is released, declaring “...because of the value and economic importance of much of our introduced biodiversity, the conservation of the genetic resources of our important introduced species is also addressed. [That] saving rare or endangered varieties, strains and breeds of species of introduced plants and animals avoids the loss of genes globally that might have future value.” The Glossary in this document defines ‘Indigenous Species’ as “A plant or animal species which occurs naturally in New Zealand.”; an ‘Introduced Species’ as “A plant or animal species which has been brought to New Zealand by humans, either by accident or design.”; and an ‘Invasive Species’ as “An animal pest or weed that can adversely affect indigenious species and ecosystems by altering genetic variation within species, or affecting the survival of species, or the quality or sustainability of natural communities.” 2002 Walt Rowe dies. 2004 The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) lists Arapawa goats in their Conservation Priority List in the ‘Study’ category. (Arapawa Goat Breeders USA, 2011) A breeding group of Arapawa goats is exported to the UK (IAGA, 2011) Providing a Maori perspective, Mitchell & Mitchell state: “Cook’s goats are also believed by many to have been the root stock of the feral goats of Arapaoa Island.” (On page 21 the authors explain that Arapaoa is spelt ‘Arapawa’ by present-day cartographers and describe it as ‘the large island bounded by the Tory Channel, Queen Charlotte Sound (Totaranui) and Cook Strait.’ (2004: 175) 2005 Arapawa goat semen is exported to the USA: “Spencer Park x 100 straws, Yellow Tag x 120 straws and Darkie x 80 straws.” 2006 January – Given their low population, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) elevates the Arapawa goats Conservation Priority to ‘Critical’ status. A second supply of Arapawa goat semen is exported to USA: “Spencer Park x 25 straws, Yellow Tag x 25 straws, Willowbank x 12 straws, Droopy Ears x 64 straws, and Island II x 74 straws” A children’s book The Goat Who Sailed The World is released; the cover of the book illustrates a photograph (taken by Karen Nicoll) of Hemmingway, an Arapawa buck owned by Willowbank Wildlife Park, Christchurch. (Jackie French, 2006) 2007 Following the results of a DNA analysis of Arapawa goats undertaken at the University of Cardoba in Spain, Dr Sponenberg, Professor of Pathology and Genetics at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Science reports that the Arapawa Island goats are a unique breed distinct from other goat breeds. (IAGA, 2011) 2008 11th April – Arapawa goats feature on ‘Campbell Live’ (NZ current events TV programme). 18th May – Betty Rowe dies. September – The New Zealand Companion Animal Council (NZCAC) presents the Assisi Medal, ‘for services to animal welfare’, posthumously to Betty Rowe (IAGA 2009). 2009 Further DNA analysis confirms Arapawa goats are a very tight genetic group that is far removed from other goat breeds. It also verifies they are unrelated to other feral goat populations in New Zealand. (IAGA, 2011). 2012 The New Zealand Arapawa Goat Association (NZAGA) is established and incorporated under the Charitable Trusts Act on 9th May 2012. 2013 On 16th January a meeting is held in Picton between representatives from DOC Sounds Area and NZAGA to discuss issues over the future of the Arapawa Island goat breed on and off the island. Both parties looked for a solution to live capture Arapawa goats to increase the genetic pool for future breeding in domestication. Nine goats (3 bucks, 6 does) were retrieved from Arapawa Island on 14th Feb 2013. A children’s picture book: Old Will, the first Arapawa goat is published. 2014 Recognition that Arapawa goats are direct descendants of the Old English Milch goat gains momentum (e.g. Byard 2014). 2016 A comprehensive history of the Arapawa goats is published following four years of in-depth research: No Ordinary Goat by Alison Sutherland. 2018 DNA evidence, based on a collaborative world-wide study by leading geneticists, clarifies the lineage of the New Zealand Arapawa goats: they are a unique modern-world breed, with a relationship to an unidentified indigenous South African breed and the possibility of early cross-bred origin. This means we cannot rule out an old English goat influence as both English and Cape Town goats were on Resolution in February 1777 when the pregnant doe and a buck were given to Maori. Followed by genetic isolation for centuries on Arapawa Island, they adapted into what is now the New Zealand Arapawa goat. 2019 - 2020 Cook's Ark. The animals that sailed with James Cook is published by Alison Sutherland. Provides details on the origins of the goats. DNA results based on 60 living animals establishes the genetic foundation for New Zealand's Arapawa goats. 2021 Alan Sutherland dies. 2023 - 2024 In 2023, the NZ Agricultural Research Institute agreed to test the DNA of goat tissue samples collected by the USA Arapawa Goat Breeders’ Association (AGBA) and compare them with the NZ Arapawa goat samples. The initial samples are lost in transit. In 2024, the AGBA send another batch of 85 tissue samples. 2025 At a meeting in Christchurch, the administration of the NZAGA was handed over to Caroline Stanners of Stanbrook Arapawa Sanctuary. Alison releases An Extraordinary Goat, New Zealand’s Arapawa Goat; a revised, updated edition of No Ordinary Goat. The historical evidence clearly demonstrates that Cook was accompanied by goats on all three of his voyages to the South Pacific, and that he hoped this versatile animal would multiply and benefit the inhabitants of New Zealand. In his journal, Cook notes that he gave goats to Māori in the northern part of Queen Charlotte Sound, and that he deliberately left a breeding pair — unseen — on what we now know as Arapaoa Island. Since there is no evidence of anyone else leaving goats in this area before they were observed "swarming" at the whaling station on the island's eastern side, it is reasonable to conclude that Cook's goats multiplied and thrived there, virtually undisturbed, for over two centuries. Is there a connection between the Old English Milch goat and the goats observed by Wakefield on Arapawa Island in 1839? Probably not. Recent DNA evidence clearly indicates the Arapawa goat is of South African origin — consistent with Cook having obtained his goats from the Khoikhoi at Cape Town. These would likely have been the indigenous veld breed native to the area in the late 18th century: smaller than European breeds but not dwarf-sized. Sadly, the indigenous goat of the Khoikhoi is now presumed extinct, lost through crossbreeding with animals imported by Dutch settlers. Regardless of its origins, the case for the Arapawa goat's survival rests on what it has become: a rare breed, distinct from all other goats in the world and unique to New Zealand. Wikipedia defines indigenous species as those "established in a given region, having originated there, or been long settled without human intervention" — a definition under which the Arapawa goat could reasonably qualify, given that it belongs nowhere else. On that basis, it would be entitled to protection under New Zealand's Biodiversity Strategy, which recognises that "saving rare or endangered varieties, strains and breeds of species of introduced plants and animals avoids the loss of genes globally that might have future value" (New Zealand Government 2000, p.71). By the Strategy's stricter definitions, however, the Arapawa goat is more precisely an Introduced Species than a truly indigenous one. What matters is that it clearly meets the criteria to be valued and protected as such — rather than dismissed as an Invasive Species and subjected to the kind of culling that risks its eradication.