Fiordland National Park

Fiordland National Park, 4,868 sq mi (12,601 sq km), on the Tasman Sea, SW South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand's largest national park, it was established as a reserve in 1904 and designated a national park in 1952. An area of coastal fjords and rugged mountains, it was scoured by glaciers over tens of thousand of years. The park encompasses many rivers, waterfalls, and lakes as well temperate rainforest. Lake Hauroko, at 1,516 ft (462 m), is the country's deepest lake, and Sutherland Falls is one of the world's highest waterfalls, dropping 1,904 ft (580 m). The park is home to the Fiordland penguin as well as rare, flightless birds including the takahe and the kakapo.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Fiordland National Park

a national park in New Zealand. The park covers an area of more than 1.2 million hectares (1976). It was created in 1904 in the southwestern part of South Island in a high-mountain coastal region with many deep fjords and waterfalls. Beech forests predominate. The park has many endemic plant species.

The bird life in the park includes the kiwi, notornis, and weka, which are flightless, and the parrot species kea and kakapo; fairy (little) penguins are found on the coast. The park’s large terrestrial mammals include only introduced species, for example, moose, sika deer, red deer, and chamois. These animals are regularly hunted.

REFERENCE

Handbook to the Fiordland National Park. Edited by G. Hall-Jones. Invercargill, 1961.

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References in periodicals archive ?

The fjords that fringe New Zealand's southwest shores were carved by ice age glaciers, but these days the dominant force in Fiordland National Park is rain.

The fjords that fringe New Zealand's southwest shores. (Good Going)

Sound, cove, lake, and power plant all sit in New Zealand's Fiordland National Park, part of a stretch of southern wilderness that has been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.

Juice from water: hydroelectric refittings aim to squeeze new power out of old plants. (Professionally Speaking)

Here was the middle of the Milford Track in Fiordland National Park, South Island, New Zealand, a 32-mile trail from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound; up Clinton Canyon, over Mackinnon Pass, past the Sutherland Falls - fifth highest in the world - and down to Milford Sound.

Stepping high in New Zealand

VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY: Milford Sound at Fiordland National Park and, from top, the Maui Platinum Beach camper van, jetboating at Hanmer Springs and Wellington's waterfront.

Shaken and stirred; New Zealand is still open for business after the earthquake which shook Christchurch. SARAH BATLEY celebrates the big five-oh with the adventure of a lifetime

Among the cruises, the 12- and 13-day voyages between Sydney and Auckland call at Melbourne, Hobart (Tasmania), Fiordland National Park (scenic cruising), Dunedin, Christchurch and Tauranga along the way, with a call in Wellington, New Zealand on the 13-day voyages.

Destination News - Asia / Pacific

It is feared Ms Timings, from Cheltenham, and Mr Montgomerie, from Hamilton, New Zealand, crashed in poor weather between Queenstown and Milford Sound in the Fiordland National Park.

Hunt for Briton is called off

Arrive Sydney for the start of your 5 Night Sydney and New South Wales Tour, Auckland - New Zealand, Tauranga - New Zealand, day at Sea, Wellington - New Zealand, Akaroa - New Zealand, Dunedin (Port Chalmers) - New Zealand, Fiordland National Park (Scenic Cruise), 2 days at Sea, Sydney, Australia Disembark Ship for Overnight flight back to the UK.

Explore the Far East on an action-packed adventure; Bustling cities, jaw-dropping temples and iconic landmarks await

Cruise West Voyage 22 sails from Auckland to Sydney, Australia, visiting Rotorua, Napier, Christchurch, Stewart Island for Christmas, Rakiura National Park, Fiordland National Park, Milford Sound, and Sydney Harbor for the firecracker spectacle on New YearOs Eve.

Cruising News - Destinations Asia / Pacific

A team of five rescue helicopters has been scouring the glaciers, crevasses and forests of Fiordland National Park since Saturday morning, when Hannah Timmings, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and pilot Campbell Montgomerie, from Hamilton, New Zealand, were reported missing in poor weather, police in Te Anau said.

Hopes fade for missing woman

A team of five rescue helicopters has been scouring the glaciers, crevasses and forests of Fiordland National Park since Saturday morning, when Hannah Timmings, 28, from Cheltenham, and pilot Campbell Montgomerie, from Hamilton, New Zealand, were reported missing in poor weather conditions, police in Te Anau said.