It is difficult to say just when the kangaroo was introduced to New Zealand, as the early colonists had the habit of calling any hopping marsupial a 'kangaroo'. The Canterbury Society received a pair of kangaroos from the Rev R.R. Bradley in 1866, and then in the following year Sir George Grey sent them another one. The Otago Society introduced one in 1867, and various individuals in the area brought in more. However little was heard of them after that, as their acclimatisation was largely unsuccessful.