New Zealand
What and where are we?
New Zealand is a small self-governing nation in the South Pacific Ocean. It comprises three main islands – North, South and Stewart – and a number of smaller offshore island groups, some of which are Subantarctic.
The country was first settled by the Polynesian Maori people around a thousand years ago, but was subsequently colonized by Britain in the mid-nineteenth century.
New Zealand has no native livestock, but a wide range of species and breeds have been imported – most until recent decades were of British origin. Farming is New Zealand's primary industry, and farm products are exported world-wide.
Our rare livestock comprises principally older breeds that are now out of favour commercially, plus unique re-domesticated breeds that evolved in New Zealand from animals which became feral in the early farming period.
