Captain James Cook, a famous English explorer and navigator, is reputed to have released a rare species of sheep on Arapawa Island in the Marlborough Sounds, northern South Island, sometime between 1769 and 1779. No known source or country of origin of these sheep has been discovered in old documents or diaries of the early explorers. It seems that the Arapawa sheep, living and breeding, for over two hundred years. On an isolated island in New Zealand, are now the only known sheep of this extremely rare breed, for no such species is known anywhere else in the world today.

While the Arapawa ram is not a large bodied sheep his horns often are longer than 36ins. Hunting sheep in New Zealand is a time honoured tradition of spot and stalk. Hunting Arapawa sheep is thrilling requiring a measured amount of patience, skill and luck.

So, if you are a serious and dedicated sheep hunter you need to talk to the ‘Team Patterson’ . Add a trophy Arapawa ram to your ‘Wild Sheep of the World’ collection when you hunt at Manuka Point Lodge.