Kapiti Island is the summit of a submerged mountain range created by earthquakes 200 million years ago.
At one time, moa and kakapo wandered the valley that lay between the mountains to the rest of the mainland. Several million years ago, most of this range was inundated by rising sea level. It was, for a time, part of a land bridge that extended across what is now Cook Strait. What remains is an island about 10 km long and 2 km wide of wind-blasted hillsides to the west and lush temperate rain forests to the sheltered east.
Maori history
A trypot used during the whaling
period on Kapiti Island
Known as "motu rongonui" or "famous island" to pre-European Maori, a succession of tribes have used Kapiti. Settlements occurred on much of the eastern side, including Rangatira Point. Kapiti was the stronghold of the famous Te Rauparaha and a strategic location for Maori military activity as late as the 1830s. By this time, however, the island was shared with European whalers.
Colonial history
During the 1840s, much of the land was cleared for farming and sheep, goats, pigs, deer, cats, and dogs were introduced. Whales declined precipitously, and the island was given over to farming after about 1850. Today, DOC preserves many artefacts from the whaling period, such as the "trypots", used for boiling down blubber, that can be seen on shore.
Conservation history
In 1870, Kapiti was identified by naturalists as a possible site for a bird sanctuary. It was reserved for this purpose in 1897, however, much of the habitat on the island had by this time been cut down and the entirety was overrun by feral animals. Despite its status, many native species did not survive. Much of the early work on using islands as bird reserves was pioneered by the visionary naturalist, Richard Henry, who arrived as a caretaker on Kapiti in 1908. The DOC whare near Rangatira was at one time his home.
By 1987, when the Department of Conservation took over the stewardship of Kapiti, many of the invasive species had been removed. Goats were eradicated from the island in 1928, followed by cats, deer, sheep, cattle, pigs, and dogs. Possums were destroyed between 1980 and 1986 in the first-ever successful operation of its kind. More than 22,500 possums were killed during this process. Kiore and Norway rats were eradicated using aerial application of brodifacoum in September-October 1996, leaving the island completely free of introduced mammals.
For further information, contact the Department of Conservation (Click here)