Story: Game birds
In this fanciful image, colonial governor Sir George Grey is pulled along by zebras. Sharing his wagon are a wallaby and a peacock. In the middle of the painting is his home on Kawau Island, to which he introduced all these animals, and many more. The peafowl was brought to New Zealand in the 1840s as an ornamental bird. It is not classified as a game bird although there are small feral populations in Northland, Whanganui and Hawke’s Bay, and on the West Coast. Only land occupiers or those with owners’ written consent can hunt peafowl.
About this item
ARTIS Gallery
Artwork by Hamish Foote
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