At the start of the 20th century, the New Zealand government sent a request to the Canadian government requesting large game for the creation of a new wildlife reserve for the purpose of hunting.

Canada obliged and sent the first animals, including Moose, in 1900. After a failed settlement attempt in the area near Hokitika, a second request was made later in the decade. 

In 1910, ten moose calves (one in Wellington in image) arrived at Supper Cove in Fiordland and the myth began. It's believed that the population thrived for a few decades but after 1952, no confirmed sightings have taken place.