Mudfish Mania comes to Canterbury

Celebrations are set to begin early October to honour one of our region’s most unique natives: the Canterbury mudfish.

Mudfish Day, the main event in Canterbury will be held at Oxford on Sunday, October 14. Events include: meet the mudfish, face-painting, games, farmers’ market, music, story-telling and more!

Other public events start on October 1, with a display in the Christchurch Botanical Gardens as well as the website www.mudfish.org going live. An expert lecture will be held at the Christchurch Art Gallery on October 11, at 6:30 p.m.

Displays will be at the Ashburton A & P Show and Waimate Strawberry Fare. Activities will include: meet the mudfish, storytelling and face-painting. .

There will be an invitation-only unveiling of a historical cairn on Wednesday, October 10 at the Oxford site where the mudfish was first discovered. ECan Chair Sir Kerry Burke, Waimakariri Mayor Jim Gerard and other VIPs will be in attendance. At 10 am, groups will meet at the Oxford Museum and the unveiling of the site will be at 11:15 a.m. Media are invited to attend.

The Canterbury mudfish was first recorded in 1924 by an Oxford Farmer, Alfred Burrows. He discovered the fish while working in a paddock. He then sent samples of the fish to the Dominion Museum in Wellington. The museum determined the species to be unique and in honour of his discovery, the mudfish was given the name Neochanna burrowsius.

The Canterbury mudfish or Kowaro is an acutely endangered fish in New Zealand as defined by to the Department of Conservation. There are only 80 known habitats for the mudfish and many of those locations are currently threatened by changes in land use.

The Canterbury Mudfish project aims to encourage sustainable land management and gain public support to identify, maintain and enhance their habitats.

ENDS

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