Mokopuna Island
Mokopuna (the 'grandchild') Island is a small island in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. It is about 200 metres (219 yd) on its long axis and about 80 metres (87 yd) across. It lies immediately north of the much larger Matiu/Somes Island, from which it is separated by a channel about 50 metres (55 yd) wide.
Nickname: Leper Island | |
|---|---|
 Mokopuna Island, from Matiu/Somes Island | |
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 41°15′S 174°52′E |
| Length | 200 m (700 ft) |
| Width | 80 m (260 ft) |
| Administration | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
A number of wave-cut arches and caves line the shore. Today, Mokopuna is a bird reserve where gulls and blue penguins nest and where no landings are allowed.
History
Mokopuna Island was known for many years as Leper Island. For about three months in 1904, one of the caves on the island was the home of one Kim Lee, a Cantonese fruiterer who had been diagnosed—possibly mistakenly—as a leper. Although Matiu / Somes was the human quarantine station at the time, Lee was exiled to Mokopuna, where he was supplied with food and water by a flying fox from Matiu / Somes.[1] Lee died on Mokopuna on 14 March 1904 and was buried on Matiu / Somes. The name Mokopuna Island was restored in August 1947 after a request from the Wellington Beautifying Society to the Geographic Board of the Lands and Survey Department.[2]
Six tuatara were released on Mokopuna Island by the Department of Internal Affairs in April 1920 and thought to still be there in 1935 though none were seen.[3] In November 1947 a member of the public reported that rabbits were numerous on Mokopuna Island, having been let loose there by an unknown person. The rabbits were causing extensive damage to the local plant life, ringbarking trees and eating other plants, and degradation of the plant cover was causing soil erosion. A poisoning operation killed 101 rabbits in three days. Further extermination of rabbits was carried out, and by late 1951 the island's vegetation had begun to regenerate.[4][5]
References
- O'Neil, Andrea (1 September 2015). "Wellington's Leper Island a legacy of racial hysteria - 150 years of news". Stuff. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
- "Leper Island renamed". Bay of Plenty Times. 18 August 1947. Retrieved 6 December 2022 – via Paperspast.
- "Tuatara sanctuary". Manawatu Herald. 4 July 1935. Retrieved 8 December 2022 – via Paperspast.
- "Vandals liberate rabbits on Leper Island". Wanganui Chronicle. 5 March 1948. Retrieved 6 December 2022 – via Paperspast.
- Internal Affairs Department (1 November 1951). "Rabbits on Leper Island (Mokopuna)". Forest and Bird (102): 11 – via Paperspast.
Further reading
- McGill, D., The Pioneers of Port Nicholson, 1984, A. H. & A. W. Reed, Wellington, N. Z. ISBN 0-589-01531-1