History

Maori Occupation

The Poor Knights Islands were occupied by Maori for many generations until the early 19th century.
Both main islands were inhabited, however each island was inhabited by a different hapu or group.

Tawhiti Rahi was occupied by members of the Ngatiwai tribe who lived on the island seasonally, using it as a base to collect seafood and birds at different times of the year. They also had extensive gardens that were tended on a regular basis. To make the best use of the available soil and water the gardens were terraced by building stone walls, many of which are still intact today.

Aorangi Island was home to the Ngatitoki people who lived there on a more permanent basis. They were, for the most part self-sufficient, growing their own vegetables and harvesting the plentiful seafood from the surrounding waters. They also traded with Maori on the adjacent coast for estuarine and Harbour shellfish, obsidian, rounded stones for soil conditioning and totara logs for building.

The last chief of the islands was a warrior called Tatua who lived on Aorangi but also ruled Tawhiti Rahi.
Oral history suggests that sometime around 1820 Tatua left the islands with his warriors to join the notorious Hongi Hika on a fighting expedition to the Hauraki Gulf. During his absence an Aorangi slave by the name of Paha escaped and made his way to Hokianga where he reported to Chief Waikato of the Hikutu tribe that the islands lay undefended.

Chief Waikato, having been insulted by Tatua several years previously when he was refused pigs he had come to trade for, immediately gathered his warriors and set out in three large waka (canoes) on the 320 km journey to the Poor Knights.
The invaders reached the islands after nightfall and, with no warriors to defend them, the islanders were soon overwhelmed.

Few survived the invasion with many jumping to their deaths from the high cliffs rather than being taken prisoner.
However, several islanders were captured including Tatua's wife (Oneho) and her daughter. Making his way back to Hokianga Chief Waikato and his men stopped off at Whangaroa to rest. While there, a local chief recognised Oneho as a distant relative and helped her escape with her daughter.

Tatua must have been horrified at the scene that greeted him on his return to the islands. Only a few people had survived the invasion, including his son Wehiwehi, who had hidden in a cave during the fighting.
Gathering the survivors Tatua left the islands never to return. He made his way to Rawhiti in the Bay of Islands, where he was unexpectedly reunited with his wife and daughter.

The Poor Knights were declared strictly tapu (sacred) and have remained uninhabited since that time.

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TIME LINE

25 November 1769 Captain James Cook sailed past the islands and, according to historian Beaglehole, named them after a popular European and English breakfast dish, known at the time as the 'Poor Knights Pudding'

1820 Island massacre and a tapu was declared.

1845 JS Pollock reportedly bought the islands from local Maori.

His ownership was never substantiated and in 1882 the Poor Knights were purchased at auction by the government to be used as a lighthouse reserve. A small, automated lighthouse was eventually erected on the north-eastern cliffs of Tawhiti Rahi in the late 1950s.

In 1922 the islands were declared a 'scenic' reserve.

1929 the islands were declared a sanctuary for nature and imported game. However, besides the pigs left over from Maori times, no other wildlife was ever introduced to the islands.

During these years several scientific and archaeological expeditions took place and efforts were made to exterminate the now 'wild' pigs that were causing extensive damage to the bush and threatening the survival of many of the native species.

1936 the pigs were finally eradicated and the islands were left to recover.

1967 the islands became part of the newly formed Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park.

1975 reserve status was granted for the protection of native flora and fauna. When the Reserves Act of 1977 came into force the islands were automatically classified as a nature reserve, the highest form of protection in New Zealand.

1981 established as New Zealand’s second Marine Reserve, extending 800 metres out from any part of the islands, and associated islets, rocks and stacks.

Today the islands are considered one of the most important offshore nature reserves in the country and access is restricted to scientific studies that will directly benefit the islands.

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Native flora and fauna

With the islands now free from the ravages of wild pigs and human settlement the native bush has once again flourished. This secondary bush has regenerated from surviving pockets of original forest. Pohutukawa trees predominate on seaward slopes and along with kanuka, form a dense canopy on inland plateaus.

During November and December the pohutukawa produce their brilliant scarlet flowers and the whole islands are blanketed in red which supposedly reminded Captain Cook of his jam covered 'Poor Knights Pudding' breakfast.

The Poor Knights' lily is perhaps the best known of the endemic species.This beautiful lily is abundant on the islands and can be seen clinging precariously to exposed cliff faces. In October each year they produce exquisite red flowers that last for several months.

Other coastal natives found on the island include: kohekohe, tawapou, karaka, ngaio, taupata,karo, mahoe and karamu.
Astelias, flax and toetoe cling to rocky outcrops and inland cliffs.

Due to their prolonged isolation on the Poor Knights, some species, like the Poor Knights' kawakawa, have become quite distinct from mainland varieties. Other species such as the Poor Knights' maupo and Poor Knights' houhere are endemic to the islands.

The Poor Knights are a completely pest free environment, making them one of the most important offshore reserves in the country and providing a safe haven for many threatened native species.

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Birds

The dense bush canopy shelters large populations of seabirds as well as land birds.

The main resident land birds are the bellbird (korimako) and the red crowned parakeet (kakariki). Both species are extremely rare in Northland but have thriving populations on the Poor Knights.

Other land birds include fantails, kingfishers, pipits, harriers and welcome swallows.

Two ground dwelling birds are also well established.The spotless crake forages on the forest floor of both main islands while the banded rail is only found on Tawhiti Rahi.

Between October and May, millions of sea birds flock to the islands to breed. The most abundant species is the Buller's shearwater. These migrating sea birds are endemic to the Poor Knights. Around October each year 2.5 million of them arrive at the islands from the Arctic Circle to breed. They dig nest burrows in the volcanic soil and return to the same nest year after year.
During the day they stay at sea, feeding and resting on the surface, only returning at night to their burrows.

Australasian gannets breed on the Sugarloaf and Pinnacles. Males arrive first at the end of July to prepare the nest site they occupied the year before. Gannets mate for life young birds return to the colony after two to five years to find a mate and continue the cycle.

Around the islands bird watchers can also expect to see flesh footed shearwaters, sooty shearwaters, fluttering shearwaters, fairy prions, grey faced petrels, Pycroft's petrels, white faced storm petrels, diving petrels, pied shags, white fronted turns and little blue penguins.

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Insects and Reptiles

The Poor Knights are home to a wide variety of rare and endangered native insects, reptiles and molluscs.

The tuatara is an ancient reptile, a survivor from the age of the dinosaur. Native to New Zealand these forest dwelling insect hunters were wide spread on the mainland until competition and predation from introduced species virtually wiped them out. Now they only survive on offshore islands such as the Poor Knights.

Tuatara are extremely long lived and can reach over half a metre in length.

On the Poor Knights they share the nest burrows of the Buller's shearwaters, using them as a convenient hiding place during the day while the birds are at sea feeding.

Two species of gecko and five species of skink also live on the islands. Duvaucel's gecko is New Zealand's largest species, reaching 30 cm. During the day it hides in caves and crevices, emerging at night to feed on berries, nectar and insects.

The island's insect population is dominated by giants.

The giant centipede only grows to its full size of 20 to 25 cm on offshore islands. It is a voracious hunter, feeding on insects, worms and even geckos.

The flax weevil is reputedly the largest in the world.

Another Poor Knights resident is the native flax snail which has a long spiral shell and feeds amongst the leaf litter on the forest floor.

Probably the most impressive insects are the giant wetas. The giant cave weta has a body about 6 cm long, but measures 30 cm from the tip of its antennae to the claws on its hind legs. They have no defence against introduced predators and are now considered extremely endangered.

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Marine Mammals

New Zealand male fur seals travel in July to October of each year form a 'haul out' colony at the Pinnacles. These adult and sub adult seals spend most of their time basking on the rocks and feeding in the rich waters around the islands.

Year round, dolphins and whales and bronze whaler sharks are spotted at the Knights. In summer minke whales, Brydes whales, southern right and even a basking whale shark stop at the Knights. The sting rays are famous for their mating during March when they stack in their hundreds in the archways that dominate the underwater landscape of the Knights.

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