Hares Ears Entry to Doubtful Sound at Fiordland, New Zealand - Encircle Photos

18 Hares Ears Entry to Doubtful Sound at Fiordland, New Zealand

Hares Ears marks the picturesque entrance to Doubtful Sound. The waterway stretches inland 25 miles, measures 33 square miles and reaches a depth of 1,381 feet. This makes it Fiordland’s deepest, second largest and second most popular fjord. It is ironic this islet is named after the brown hare. The lepus europaeus is distributed throughout New Zealand yet is absent in Fiordland. Before they arrived with the Europeans in the mid-19th century – along with hitchhiking rats – New Zealand was devoid of mammals. Because these varmints had no predators, they quickly flourished into pests. To control them, the British introduced stoats (a type of weasel) and cats in to the wild. They in turn wiped out many species of native flightless birds. Conservation efforts are still underway to eradicate these invasive species and save endangered endemic fauna.

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Hares Ears Entry to Doubtful Sound at Fiordland, New Zealand

Doubtful Sound, Southland 9691, New Zealand

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