Living and working in the cold - Antarctica: Global Science from a Frozen Continent - page 243

Box 8.3 Huskies

The cult for

horses but dogs were used extensively by Amundsen to get to the South Pole in
1911 and in the 1950s and 1960s for virtually all of the Transantarctic Mountains
expeditions and the exploration of the Antarctic Peninsula. By the 1970s most
countries had begun to replace dogs with snowmobiles. While dogs are an
important part of history, keeping non-native animals on Antarctica was banned
because there was the possibility that canine distemper disease, a serious problem
in the Arctic, could spread to Antarctica

first explorers brought horses and dogs. The terrain proved dif

s seals. The other concern was that,
if dogs broke loose, they could attack wildlife. The strict environmental regulations
that most national programmes now follow include removal of all waste material
and it would be nearly impossible to maintain dogs to that standard. The British,
Australian and Argentine programmes continued to keep dog teams until they
were all removed from the continent in 1994

'

- signaling the end of the

historic era.

Figure 8.18 Husky team under Mt Ole Engelstad, NZARP Southern Party 1961-62.

(Credit: Peter Otway, Antarctica NZ)