The upper reaches of the river once abounded in flightless Moa, predated upon by the Haast's Eagle.
A visit to the area in 1989 by conservationist Dr David Bellamy.
The Haast's eagle has appeared in several documentaries pertaining to New Zealand, but was most heavily featured in Monsters We Met, where it was live-acted by a Harpy Eagle and interpreted as hunting humans in addition to moas due to the humans vaguely resembling its natural prey.
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Artwork depicting Haast's Eagle now may be viewed at OceanaGold's Heritage & Art Park at Macraes, Otago, New Zealand.
In 2010, plans resurfaced to construct a road from this turnoff towards Haast, following first the river and then travelling along the rugged coastline.
The bay marks the farthest extent of the West Coast's road network: the small road which meanders along the coast from Haast, 32 kilometres to the northeast, terminates at the sleepy fishing village of Jackson Bay, close to Jackson Head.
He was the first person to study the bones of the extinct Haast's Eagle.
Lake Paringa is a small lake 30 kilometres north of Haast on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.
It flows northwest for 45 kilometres from its headwaters in the Southern Alps to the west of the Haast Pass to the Tasman Sea at the northern end of Jackson Bay, 12 kilometres south of Haast.
Soon after opening the Serpentarium Haast began experimenting with building up an acquired immunity to the venom of King, Indian and Cape cobras by injecting himself with gradually increasing quantities of venom he had extracted from his snakes, a practice called mithridatism.
Along with the Little Eagle this bird is one of the closest living relatives of the extinct Haast's Eagle of New Zealand.