In the late 1960s, a farmer from Crookston, West Otago, named Richard Cook had a dream. He wanted a bison. Other New Zealanders had bisons, why not him? The Department of Agriculture had no objection and there were zoos in the country which had surplus animals. All seemed good, so Cook built a strong bison enclosure on his farm in 1969. The enclosure was duly inspected and approved and Cook waited for a surplus animal to become available.
You can imagine Cook's surprise when he opened a letter in January 1970 to read that the department had changed its rules the month before and he could no longer obtain a permit to keep a bison. The disappointment must have been all the more because the changed regulations would have been under consideration during the time that Cook had negotiated his permit and built his enclosure.
The director-general of Agriculture suggested compensation for cook but, as the Ombudsman's report put it, "This was not an acceptable conclusion to the complainant, as he was interested not in compensation but in bison."
Cook then obtained a permit to operate a private zoo but, unfortunately, the permit did not extend to bisons - at least, he could not import one and there were none available in New Zealand. By 1974, however, he obtained full permission for his heart's desire after petitioning Parliament and the Wellington Zoo offered him a bison. On loan.
Sadly, Mr Cook's bison did not live long at his Crookston farm. In November 1974 it died on pneumonia and salmonella. It was then that the Christchurch Press revealed the joke, based on the original 1969 desire and attempt to obtain a bison by Mr Cook. The bison's name was Tenary.
It was Cook's bison Tenary.
The bison battle
The bureaucratic bison battle which engaged the attention of the Ombudsman (Sir Guy Powles) in 1970, is still being waged but a South Otago bison stockade is no nearer to getting a resident.
Mr R. J. Cook, of Heriot, writing to “The Press” has identified himself as the farmer who in Sir Guy Powles’s 1971 annual report was described as the man who “had felt a strong desire to keep a bison.”
In 1969 Mr Cook first obtained a Department of Agriculture permit to keep a bison, then ran up against regulations which required a B class zoo licence. When he obtained one he found that, according to departmental officials, he could not have a newly imported bison and that in the meantime his New Zealand-zoo-ordered bison had gone to Australia. Sir Guy Powles recognised his concern but advised Mr Cook to give up his would-be zoological hobby and accept any compensation. Mr Cook has not. He is still without a bison, but involved in a maze of arguments. His latest letter from the Ombudsman’s first assistant, Mr L. D. Smith, acknowledges that the Regulations Act provides that all regulations shall be laid before Parliament within 28 days of their making if Parliament is in session and if not, within 28 days of the beginning of the next session.
As Mr Cook told the office, the Zoological Gardens Regulations, 1969, were not put before Parliament, either at the stipulated time or later. He asked if they were thereby invalidated.
The Ombudsman’s office has told Mr Cook that legal opinion is that the omission to lay the regulations before Parliament is one of a directory rather than an imperative nature and that therefore the regulations would not be invalid.
The opinion may be challenged in the Courts, but in the circumstances Sir Guy Powles’s most likely action would be to criticise the department for failure to ensure that the regulations went before Parliament under the prescribed procedure, Mr Cook has been told.
He still wants his bison. -Press, 25/9/1974.
Bison piece was good television
The story of one man’s determined fight against bureacracy in a bid to keep, of all things, European bison, made an excellent piece for “Nationwide” on Thursday evening.
It demonstrated clearly that the programme need not always be grappling with national -issues, or interviewing politicians and others in the news to be first-class television.
This particular item had all the ingredients of a good story and “Nationwide” explored all avenues to the full, even adding some “Home on the Range” colour. The introduction was novel and interest-arousing, although the exploits of Peter Snell, Sir Edmund Hilary and the All Blacks were hardly comparable.
However, the point was made — no permission was required for these examples of human endeavour, whereas with Richard Cook, of West Otago, it was an uphill drag all the way. With his quick smile and engaging personality, Mr Cook made an excellent television subject. He came across as a friendly, imaginative New Zealander mad keen on animals, especially bison.
The programme’s quick switches, from Dick Cook to the Ombudsman, Sir Guy Powles, were most effective. Sir Guy is always good value and his admiration of the young man’s persistence echoed the feelings of most Viewers. And the moral of the story came through loud and clear — perseverance in the face of unreasonable bureaucratic opposition will be rewarded in the end by compromise. -Press, 20/4/1974.
Farmer will get his bison if he can find a bison
(New Zealand Press Association) INVERCARGILL, January 22.
The great bison battle is almost at an end for a Crookston farmer, Mr R. Cook.
For four frustrating, years Mr Cook has been battling with Wellington bureaucrats for the right to keep two bison in a private zoo he proposes to establish.
Mr Cook’s local member of Parliament, Mr J. B. Gordon, and the Ombudsman (Sir Guy Powles) entered the bison fight.
Correspondence flowed to and from the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture, but the men who administered the regulations stood fast.
“Sorry, but you can’t keep bison,” was an answer which did not satisfy Mr Cook. He kept hammering at the locked departmental doors, hoping to find some way of persuading those in power to let him realise his zoological dream.
Relations between Mr Cook and the Wellington I administrators of the Zoological Gardens Regulations became strained as a result of his persistence, but he kept his sights firmly on the elusive bison.
Last month Mr Cook saw a chink in the armour of the Ministry of Agriculture. He learned that a Timaru man, Mr B. Smith, had successfully applied for permission to keep bison on a private zoo and exotic animal breeding property called Hadlow Park.
Mr Cook was annoyed that the Timaru man could obtain bison while he could not. Yet another letter explaining Mr Cook’s case, and mentioning the anomaly, was posted to the Ministry.
Today, an Invercargill newspaper telephoned the Ministry, and received the answer Mr Cook has been awaiting for four years.
After a bit of “bison passing,” the assistant director (field services) of the Animal Health Division (Mr R. M. Salisbury) said that Mr Cook would receive approval to keep bison “within the next few weeks, or possibly sooner.”
When told of the news, Mr Cook was delighted.
Mr Salisbury said he did not. exactly blame the delay on the “old system under a different administration.” The long wait for Mr Cook had been caused by “a question of interpretation.” The Ministry had recently decided that the correct interpretation of the regulations would allow people like Mr Cook to keep bison privately.
New regulations which were being drafted would clarify the provision for keeping exotic animals, he said.
However, the saga of Mr Cook’s bison is not yet over. Although approval from the Ministry of Agriculture has been the major hurdle, Mr Cook has still to find available bison.
When Mr Cook first wanted to keep bison there was a surplus of the large North American animals at Wellington Zoo.
According to Mr Smith, the spare Wellington bison have gone to Hadlow Park. The Auckland Zoo also keeps bison, but it is not known if that zoo has any surplus.
Bison can be imported only from Australia — and that is a path littered with red tape.
If Mr Cook cannot obtain two young New Zealandbred bison he probably will have to continue doing what he has been doing for four years — waiting. -Press, 23/1/1974.
’Bye, son
(N.Z. Press Association) DUNEDIN, Nov. 22.
The bison that a South Otago farmer fought the authorities for five years to buy has died. Mr Dick Cook said from his property at Crookston, near Gore, tonight, that his bison, called “Cook’s Bicentenary,” had had salmonella and pneumonia. -Press, 23/11/1974.
Mr Richard Cook, of Crookston, I salute you.
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