branch death_place death_date birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date nickname article_title name
23px new zealand army invercargill , new zealand 11 september 1989 ringaringa , stewart island , new zealand new zealand 23px member of the order of the british empire world war i 01 december 1892 roy roy traill
 robert henry traill
roy traill

robert henry `` roy '' traill -lrb- 1 december 1892 -- 11 september 1989 -rrb- was a resident and wildlife ranger of stewart island in new zealand .
in the course of his work , traill hiked throughout most the island and as a result became a source of information on the biota of the island for botanists and zoologists .
traill was born in ringaringa , stewart island .
he attended primary school at halfmoon bay school in oban and high school at southland boys ' high school in invercargill , on the south island .
he was a fisherman by trade , and in january 1915 he was enlisted in the new zealand army and sent to egypt to fight in world war i .
in 1916 , he was wounded in the battle of the somme and hospitalised in england .
traill returned to new zealand in 1917 .
in 1925 , traill began working for the state forest service and the department of lands and survey on stewart island .
he travelled by foot across most parts of the island and was primarily responsible for preventing people from hunting the native bird species .
in spite of his responsibilities , traill later admitted to having made stew out of a number of bird species , including the weka and the kaka .
traill was also active in attempting to exterminate any wild mammals that had managed to arrive on the island .
traill marked many tracks on stewart island that are still used today , including one from halfmoon bay to port pegasus .
with his knowledge of the island , he was able to assist botanists , zoologists , and conservationists who were studying the biota of stewart island later in his career .
traill retired in 1958 and continued to live in oban with his son .
in the 1963 new year honours he was made a member of the order of the british empire for services to the stewart island community .
he spent his last years in a hospital in invercargill and died there at age 96 .
