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Tongariro National Park

Coordinates: 39°17′27″S 175°33′44″E / 39.29083°S 175.56222°E / -39.29083; 175.56222
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tongariro National Park
Mahuia River, Tongariro National Park
Map
Interactive map of Tongariro National Park
LocationRuapehu District, New Zealand
Nearest cityNational Park, New Zealand
Coordinates39°17′27″S 175°33′44″E / 39.29083°S 175.56222°E / -39.29083; 175.56222
Area795.96 km2 (307.32 sq mi)
EstablishedOctober 1887
Governing bodyDepartment of Conservation
Whakapapa Visitor Centre
Private Bag
Mount Ruapehu 2650
CriteriaCultural and Natural: (vi), (vii), (viii)
Reference421bis
Inscription1990 (14th Session)
Extensions1993

Tongariro National Park (/ˈtɒŋɡərɪroʊ/; Māori: [tɔŋaɾiɾɔ]), located in the central North Island, is the oldest national park in New Zealand.[1] It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site of mixed cultural and natural values.[2]

Tongariro National Park was the sixth national park[3] established in the world.[1] The active volcanic mountains Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe, and Tongariro are located in the centre of the park.[1]

There are a number of Māori religious sites within the park,[4] and many of the park's summits, including Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, are tapu, or sacred.[5] The park includes many towns around its boundary including Ohakune, Waiouru, Horopito, Pokaka, Erua, National Park Village, Whakapapa skifield and Tūrangi.

Tongariro National Park is home to the famed Tongariro Alpine Crossing, widely regarded as one of the world's best one-day hikes.[6][7]

History

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Māori mythology and history

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In Māori legend the volcanoes in Tongariro National Park are personified. Various versions[8][9] of the basic story exist: Tongariro and Taranaki were both in love with Ruapehu or Pihanga and had a great battle. Taranaki lost the battle and fled west towards the coast, carving out the Whanganui River on the way. The Tama Lakes (Māori: Ngā puna a Tama), two crater lakes between Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe, are said to represent the gap left when Taranaki departed.[10]

Māori hold the summits of the mountains to be sacred or tapu. John Bidwill is thought to be the first European to climb Mt Ngauruhoe, in March 1839. His Māori guides refused to take him to the summit because it was tapu, so Bidwill climbed alone. He was met with anger when he returned to the village he had started from.[11] The chief Mananui Te Heu Heu Tūkino II then placed a tapu on the area, denying Dieffenbach, Governor George Grey and Hochstetter permission to ascend the volcanoes,[4] and the artist George French Angas was forbidden from sketching the mountains.[12][13] Mananui and many of his family died in a landslide in 1846. His body was put in a vault at Pūkawa, and later taken to a burial cave on Mount Tongariro. In 1910, Mananui's remains were reinterred in a tomb at Waihī.[14]

Park establishment

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With the mountain summits being of great significance to local Māori, and in order to prevent the selling of the mountains to European settlers, in 1886 the Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi had the mountains surveyed in the Native Land Court and then set aside (whakatapua) as a reserve in the names of certain chiefs. One of these chiefs was Te Heuheu Tūkino IV (Horonuku), son of Mananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II and the most significant chief of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi. Later the peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe, and parts of Mount Ruapehu, were conveyed to the Crown on 23 September 1887, on condition that a protected area was established there.

This 26.4 km2 area was generally considered to be too small to establish a national park after the model of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States, and so further areas were acquired. When the New Zealand Parliament passed the Tongariro National Park Act in October 1894,[15] the park covered an area of about 252.13 km2, but it took until 1907 to acquire the land.[16]

In 1908, a scientific party consisting of botanist Leonard Cockayne, forester and surveyor Edward Phillips Turner and geologist Robert Speight spent several months exploring and surveying the park.[17] Their report presented to Parliament detailed the flora and fauna and geology of the region, and recommended that the park's boundaries be expanded.[18] Cockayne also noted that it was important to protect the environment from development and introduced pests.[19][20]

When the Act was renewed in 1922, the park area was extended to 586.8 km2. Further extensions, especially Pihanga Scenic Reserve in 1975,[2] enlarged the park to its current size of 786.23 km2. The last modification to the Act was passed in 1980. Tongariro National Park has been under the control of the New Zealand Department of Conservation since the creation of the department in 1987. A plaque at the Whakapapa Visitor Centre commemorates Te Heuheu's gift to New Zealand.[21]

Tongariro deed of gift between Te Heuheu Tūkino IV of Ngāti Tūwharetoa and the Crown (1887)

Development

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The first activities in the young Tongariro National Park were the construction of tourist huts at the beginning of the 20th century. But it was not until opening of the North Island Main Trunk railway line between Auckland and Wellington in 1908 and the building of roads in the 1920s that a significant number of people visited the park. This early tourist development explains the rather uncommon existence of a permanently inhabited village and fully developed ski area within a national park. The second Tongariro National Park Act, in 1922, started some active conservation efforts, and in 1923 a park ranger was appointed.[22][23] Skiing on the mountains in the park became popular from about 1914, when the Ruapehu Ski Club was established.[24] The first ski hut was built on Mt Ruapehu in 1923 at an elevation of 1770 m,[25] and a ski lift was constructed in 1938–1939.[26]

The first motor vehicle reached Whakapapa village via the Bruce Road in August 1925, after the previous rough cart track was upgraded by prison labour and a bridge was built over the Whakapapa River.[27] This led to an influx of tourists and demands for more accommodation at Whakapapa.[28] The hotel Chateau Tongariro at Whakapapa opened in 1929 with 95 bedrooms and associated cheaper lodges for trampers.[29] The road was extended beyond Whakapapa Village after World War 2.[30] Road access to the park was further improved in the 1960s with the development of roads needed for building the Tongariro Power Scheme.[31]

Sunrise on Tongariro National Park
Panorama of Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe looking west from the Desert Road in January 2015

Geography

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Location and size

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Tongariro National Park covers 786 km2 stretching between 175° 22' and 175° 48' East and 38° 58' and 39° 25' South in the heart of the North Island of New Zealand.[32] It is just a few kilometres west-southwest of Lake Taupō. It is 330 km south of Auckland by road, and 320 km north of Wellington. It contains a considerable part of the North Island Volcanic Plateau. Directly to the east stand the hills of the Kaimanawa range. The Whanganui River rises within the park and flows through Whanganui National Park to the west.

Most of the park is located in the Ruapehu District (Manawatū-Whanganui region), although the northeast is in the Taupō District (Waikato Region, or Hawke's Bay Region to the north).

Park boundaries

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Satellite picture of Tongariro National Park

Tongariro National Park stretches around the massif of the three active volcanoes Mount Ruapehu, Mount Ngauruhoe, and Mount Tongariro. The Pihanga Scenic Reserve, containing Lake Rotopounamu, Mount Pihanga and the Kakaramea-Tihia Massif, though separate from the main park area, is still part of the national park.

Ketetahi hot springs is an area of 39 ha on the northern slope of Mt Tongariro which, although it lies within the park boundaries, has never been part of Tongariro National Park. Formerly, hikers on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing were allowed to pass by the hot springs, but the Māori owners Ketetahi Springs Trust closed the route because they objected to commercial guides making money from their land. In 2010, the Department of Conservation agreed to re-route the Tongariro Alpine Crossing so that it didn't cross the private land.[33][34]

On the park borders are the towns of Tūrangi, National Park Village and Ohakune. Further away are Waiouru and Raetihi. Within the park borders, the only settlements are the tourism-based village at Whakapapa Village which consists solely of ski accommodation. Two Maori kainga (settlements) Papakai and Otukou are not part of the park but lie on the shores of Lake Rotoaira between the Pihanga Scenic Reserve and the main park area.

The bulk of Tongariro National Park is surrounded by well-maintained roads that roughly follow the park borders and provide easy access. In the west, State Highway 4 passes National Park village, and in the east, State Highway 1, known for this stretch as the Desert Road, runs parallel to the Tongariro River. State Highway 47 joins these two highways to the north of much of the park, although it bisects the Pihanga Scenic Reserve. The southern link is State Highway 49. The North Island Main Trunk railway from Auckland to Wellington passes National Park village.

Climate

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Tawhai Falls, Jan 2014

Like the whole of New Zealand, Tongariro National Park is situated in a temperate zone. The prevailing westerly winds gather water over the Tasman Sea. As the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park are the first significant elevations that these winds encounter on the North Island, besides Mount Taranaki, rain falls almost daily. The east–west rainfall differences are not as great as in the Southern Alps, because the three volcanoes do not belong to a greater mountain range, but there is still a noticeable rain shadow effect with the Rangipo desert on the Eastern leeward side receiving 1,000 mm of annual rainfall. At Whakapapa Village (1119 m) the average annual rainfall is about 2200 mm, in Ohakune (610 m) about 1250 mm and in higher altitudes, such as Iwikau Village (1770 m), about 4900 mm. In winter there is snow to about 1500 m. Temperatures vary dramatically, even within one day. In Whakapapa, they can fall below the freezing point all year round. The average temperature is 13 °C, with a maximum of 25 °C in summer and a minimum of −10 °C in winter. In some summers the summits of the three volcanoes are covered with snow; on top of Mount Ruapehu, snow fields can be found every summer and the summit is glaciated.[35]

The three volcanoes: snow-capped Ruapehu (left), conical Ngauruhoe (centre) and broad-domed Tongariro (right)

Geology

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The park's volcanoes are the southern end of a 2500 km long range of volcanoes, below which the Australian Plate meets the Pacific Plate. These volcanoes have resulted from internal tectonic processes. The Pacific Plate subducts under the Australian plate, and subsequently melts due to the high temperatures of the asthenosphere. This magma, being less dense, rises to the surface and goes through the weak parts of the Earth's crust (the faults) resulting in volcanic processes in the area.

Volcanic processes have been building the mountains of Tongariro National Park for over two million years. Three volcanoes (Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu) remain active, while the park's two northernmost volcanoes (Pihanga and the Kakaramea-Tihia Massif) last erupted over 20,000 years ago.[36] They have however produced significant historic mudflows.[37]

A glaciated valley on the southeast side of Mount Ruapehu

Erosion and deposition by mountain glaciers has also played an important role in shaping Tongariro and Ruapehu volcanoes. Small glaciers are present on the summit of Mt. Ruapehu today, however there is abundant geomorphological evidence for more extensive glaciation in the recent geological past. Glaciers were last present on Tongariro during the Last Glacial Maximum.[38]

Ecology

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Southern beech forest on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu

Flora

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The Tongariro National Park is a rough and partly unstable environment. To the north and west of the park, a podocarp-broadleaf rain forest near Lake Taupō stretches over an area of 30 km2, and up to an elevation of 1000 m. In this rain forest live Hall's totara (Podocarpus laetus), kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides), kāmahi (Weinmannia racemosa), pāhautea (Libocedrus bidwillii), and numerous epiphytic ferns, orchids, and fungi. Pāhautea trees can be found further on up to a height of 1530 m, where they cover 127.3 km2. On this level, one can also find a 50 km2 beech forest, containing red (Nothofagus fusca), silver (Nothofagus menziesii) and mountain beech (Nothofagus solandri var cliffortioides). Understory species within the forests include ferns such as crown fern (Blechnum discolor) as well as shrub species.[39] There is also a 95 km2 area of scrubland, containing kānuka (Leptospermum ericoides), mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium), celery-top pine (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius), inaka (Dracophyllum longifolium), woolly fringe moss (Rhacomitrium lanuginosum), small beeches and introduced heather.

Neinei (Dracophyllum recurvum) in Tongariro National Park

To the northwest, and around Mount Ruapehu, between an altitude of 1200 and 1500 m, large areas (around 150 km2) are covered with tussock shrubland and tussock grass. This tussock consists mainly of New Zealand red tussock grass (Chionochloa rubra), inaka, curled leaved neinei (Dracophyllum recurvum), wire rush (Empodisma minus), and bog rush (Schoenus pauciflorus), as well as heather and grasses like hard tussock (Festuca novaezelandiae) and bluegrass (Poa colensoi).

Above 1500 m, the terrain consists of gravel and stone fields and is accordingly unstable. Nevertheless, some plants occasionally settle there, such as curled leaved neinei, snow tōtara (Podocarpus nivalis), mountain snowberry (Gaultheria colensoi), bristle tussock (Rytidosperma setifolium), bluegrass and Raoulia albosericea, which cover an area of 165 km2. Between 1700 and 2020 m there are some isolated Parahebe species, Gentiana bellidifolia and buttercups. Above 2200 m live only crustose lichens.

Fauna

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There are 56 significant species of birds in the park, including rare endemic species like the North Island brown kiwi, kākā, blue duck, North Island fernbird, double-banded plover and New Zealand falcon/kārearea. Other bird species common in the park are tūī, New Zealand bellbird, morepork/ruru, grey warbler/riroriro, fantail, whitehead/pōpokotea and silvereye.[40] The park also features the only two native mammals of New Zealand, the short- and long-tailed bat.[41] Tongariro National Park also teems with insects like moths and wētā. Also present in the park, as well as the whole of New Zealand, are animals introduced by Europeans, such as black rats, stoats, cats, rabbits, hare, possums and red deer.[42]

Human interaction

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Conservation

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In the early 20th century, park administrators, including John Cullen, introduced heather to the park for grouse hunting.[43] Grouse were introduced in 1924,[44] but within a few years had disappeared.[45][46] The heather thrived, leading to criticism of its introduction as early as the 1920s[47] because it threatens the ecological system and endemic plants of the park. In 1996, the heather beetle, Lochmaea suturalis, was imported to deal with the invasive heather but initially this was not very successful. Between 1996–2018, only 5,000 ha of heather was damaged by the beetles.  However research in 2021 showed that the heather beetles were spreading and had been killing the heather. Since 2018 the beetles have damaged more than 35,000 ha of heather, reducing cover in affected areas by up to 99% and thereby allowing native plants to recover. The NZ Defence Force no longer needs to spray herbicide on large parts of its training ground next to the National Park.[48][49] A 2024 study of heather in the park found that it was causing the disappearance of native ferns, sedges and rushes and affecting the growth pattern of red tussock. An underground fungus that has a symbiotic relationship with the tussock was also affected by the spread of heather.[50]

Pine trees were introduced into New Zealand in the 1930s for forestry and control of erosion, but 'wilding pines', coniferous trees grown from wind-blown seeds, have become a nationwide problem. Volunteers and the government have been working since the 1960s[51] to eradicate wilding pines on Mt Ruapehu, since they shut out native plants, consume water and degrade the environment. Tongariro National Park received funding from the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme which was set up in 2016 to produce a coordinated nationwide effort at pine control.[52][53] By 2023 the Conifer Control Programme had stopped the spread of wilding pines in the Tongariro area including the national park and removed most sources of seeds.[54]

Until the mid-20th century, wild horses descended from animals brought to New Zealand in the 1800s roamed in the national park and surrounding areas.[55][23] After the population declined due to hunting and habitat changes, the horses, today known as the Kaimanawa horse, came under government protection in 1981. The population is managed by the Department of Conservation to ensure the horses' current range does not extend back into the National Park.[56][57]

Red deer were released periodically in Tongariro National Park from the late 19th century, and sika deer introduced to the Kaimanawas in 1905 later spread to the park.[58][59] By the 1940s deer were recognised as a menace to local plant life, and the government made efforts to reduce the population through culling.[60][61] During 1962, deer were regularly sighted within metres of the Chateau, a sign that the population was higher than officials had thought.[62] Private hunters can shoot red deer, sika deer and pigs in the park as a means to keep the population down.

Alongside a goat control programme in Tongariro Forest adjacent to the Tongariro National Park, the Department of Conservation (DoC) is vigilant about detecting feral goats within the park. In 2024, a helicopter using thermal imaging technology searched 16,000 ha of the park for goats, but none were found. DoC states that regular surveillance and early action is more cost-effective than trying to root out a population that has already become established.[63][64]

Project Tongariro (formally, the Tongariro Natural History Society) is a conservation group set up by volunteers in 1984 as a memorial to national park staff lost in a 1982 helicopter accident.[65] Since the 1980s the group has undertaken many projects in Tongariro National Park, including ecological restoration at Lake Rotopounamu, restoration of sites used in filming the Lord of the Rings, surveys of blue duck habitats, and restoration of the Hapuawhenua Viaduct in the park.[65][66]

Activities

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Ruapehu seen from Whakapapa Village, Tongariro National Park. This road climbs to Iwikau Village, which provides access to ski fields.

The main activities in the park are hiking and climbing in summer, and skiing and snowboarding in winter. There is also opportunity for hunting, game fishing, mountain biking, horse riding, rafting and scenic flights.

The most popular track in Tongariro National Park is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Most of the track is also part of the Tongariro Northern Circuit, a two- to four-day hike, which is one of New Zealand's ten Great Walks. Side trips to the summits of Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe are possible on these tracks. Another route is the three- to six-day Round the Mountain Track around Mount Ruapehu. Besides these, there are numerous shorter tracks appropriate for day tramps. With this track net, three camp sites, two emergency shelters, nine public and four private huts and the facilities in Whakapapa, the park is well developed for tourism. These tracks also serve as winter routes, as well as the track to the summit of Mount Ruapehu. Rock-climbing is also an option.

The first stage of Te Ara Mangawhero, a cycling and walking track between Mt Ruapehu and Ohakune, opened on 4 November 2024. The 11.4 km loop track was expected to bring tourists to the area.[67] Eventually the track is expected to extend towards Turoa Ski Field.[68]

Snow season is from late June to early November. The biggest ski area, Whakapapa, is on the north-western slopes of Mount Ruapehu. It has 15 lifts, covering an area of 5.5 km2. Directly next to the ski field are 47 ski club huts: most of them also accommodate non-club members. The next settlement is at the base of the mountain, in Whakapapa village. A slightly smaller ski field called Turoa is on the south-western slope. Though it has only nine lifts, the 5 km2 skiing area is almost as large as Whakapapa's. There is no accommodation at the ski field: the nearest town is Ohakune. These two ski fields came under common management in 2000.[69] The company later went into receivership, and in November 2023, Pure Tūroa, a Māori collective, took over a 10-year lease of Turoa. Management of Whakapapa remained with the receivers.[70][71]

Beside these major ski fields, there is also the Tukino ski area, a club ski field open to the public. This ski field is run by Tukino Mountain Clubs Association which is made up of Desert Alpine Ski Club, Tukino Alpine Sports Club and the Aorangi Ski Club on the south-eastern slope. The ski clubs each have a 32 guest club on the field accessed by a 4WD road from State Highway 1. Tukino Ski Area has two nutcracker rope tows, and covers 1.9 km2.

In the period July 2022 – March 2023, 9% of international visitors visited the Tongariro National Park.[72] Over-tourism is a problem in the park, particularly on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing where visitor numbers increased from 10,000 in 1990 to 125,000 in 2015.[73] In addition to the difficulties of managing greater numbers of vehicles, rubbish disposal and toilet facilities, the environment becomes degraded and park staff face more callouts for visitors needing rescue.[74] In an attempt to manage the situation, in 2023 the Department of Conservation put in place a booking system for those wishing to walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.[75]

View of Mt. Ngauruhoe from Tongariro Alpine Crossing trail
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A 1984 feature film, Wild horses, was filmed in the park. The plot centres around conflict between Kaimanawa horse wranglers, deer cullers and park rangers.[76]

Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe were one of the several locations where Peter Jackson shot The Lord of the Rings film trilogy; tours to view these places are commonly arranged by the tour's operators and lodges.[77]

Mount Ngauruhoe was also featured in Hunt for the Wilderpeople.[78]

Tongariro National Park landscapes were used as backgrounds for Queen Bavmorda's castle in the 1988 film Willow.[79]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Department of Conservation: "Tongariro National Park: Features" Archived 22 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 21 April 2013
  2. ^ a b World Heritage Nomination – IUCN Summary: 421 Tongariro National Park (New Zealand). IUCN. August 1990.
  3. ^ Hardy, Uniqua. "The 10 Oldest National Parks in the World". Culture Trip. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b Beetham, George (1926). "Introduction by T. E. Donne". The First Ascent of Mount Ruapehu.
  5. ^ Cowan, James (1927). "Chapter II: The Mountains of the Gods". The Tongariro National Park, New Zealand – Its topography, geology, alpine and volcanic features, history and Maori folk-lore. pp. 29–33.
  6. ^ Julie (31 January 2016). "20 Best Day Hikes in the World (+ Map & Photos)". Earth Trekkers. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  7. ^ Roberts, Tim. "World's 10 Best Day Hikes". www.storylines.com. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  8. ^ An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand (1966). "Maori Legend of Mounts Ruapehu and Taranaki (Egmont)". Te Ara.
  9. ^ Royal, Te Ahukaramū Charles (12 June 2006). "Battle of the mountains". Te Ara.
  10. ^ "Ascent of Ngauruhoe". Auckland Star. 25 May 1907 – via Papers Past.
  11. ^ "Pioneer climber". New Zealand Herald. 4 March 1939 – via Papers Past.
  12. ^ "Scenes in New Zealand". Daily Southern Cross. 28 June 1864 – via Papers Past. During my stay at Taupo, I frequently experienced considerable difficulty, when sketching, from the prevalence of the tapu, so many objects being considered as sacred. [...] Even Tongariro itself I was forbidden to represent.
  13. ^ Stokes, Evelyn (October 2000). "4.1 Pakeha Visitors in the 1840s". The Legacy of Ngatoroirangi: Maori Customary Use of Geothermal Resources [research report] (PDF). Hamilton, New Zealand: University of Waikato. pp. 53–59.
  14. ^ Hura, Elizabeth (1990). "Te Heuheu Tūkino II, Mananui". Te Ara.
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  16. ^ "Local and general". 5 September 1907 – via Papers Past. This week's Gazette contains a notification that 63,300 acres in the counties of East Taupo, West Taupo, and Waimarino have been set apart as a national park, to be known as the Tongariro National Park.
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  53. ^ "Pressure going on runaway Central North Island pines". www.doc.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 November 2024.
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  57. ^ "Kaimanawa horses". www.doc.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  58. ^ "Town and country". New Zealand Times. 23 March 1897 – via Papers Past.
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  60. ^ "Deer menace". Otago Daily Times. 7 December 1948 – via Papers Past.
  61. ^ "Deer culling in National Park is progressing well". Wanganui Chronicle. 4 March 1949 – via Papers Past.
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  63. ^ "Goat control: Helicopters search Tongariro National Park for feral pests". NZ Herald. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
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Further reading

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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Tongariro National Park.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tongariro National Park.
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