MPI launches industry-wide project to manage feral deer

MPI director of pest management John Walsh says the project involves Beef + Lamb NZ, Federated Farmers, Department of Conservation (DoC), Forest and Bird and others to deal with a major problem - feral deer.

Walsh says it's estimated that there are between 1.3 to 1.8 million feral deer in the country at present.

"And this number is rising by about 200,000 a year," he told Rural News.

Walsh says the problem has grown in recent years and needs to be tackled with some urgency.

He says he recently flew over parts of the Wairarapa and saw large numbers of deer, many of which were grazing in newly planted carbon forest land.

He says there is no simple solution. Shooting deer on the ground is not the only answer and while aerial shooting is an option, it is not the complete answer.

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"There needs to be an holistic approach to managing feral browsing pests.

"One of the things that has become clear is when you just reduce deer numbers in an area, this often sparks a rise in wild pig numbers because they feed on the carcasses of the deer. So, these things are all interconnected," he says.

There is a strong market for wild deer meat and one of the challenges facing the group taksed with dealing with feral deer is seeing if it can be done sustainably and put good meat into the food chain.

Walsh says it's never been easier to shoot a deer, but with the high number of animals in the hills, there is a lack of feed and some deer are not in the best condition. Another option is poisoning deer using brodifacoum, but the downside is there are regulations about withholding periods in areas where this is used and this affects hunters taking deer for private or commercial use.

Walsh says soon they will start targeting certain regions and catchments where the feral deer populations are high. But he says there is the need for more hard data and a broad strategic approach to deal with the problem.