{"id":167301,"date":"2025-12-04T06:36:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T06:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/167301\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T06:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T06:36:09","slug":"calls-for-urgent-action-over-deer-control-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/167301\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls for urgent action over deer control"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s nearly 100 years since deer were first declared a pest in New Zealand and we are no closer to coming up with a resolution, says hunter and conservationist John Bissell.<\/p>\n

While we procrastinate and argue, the ngahere (forest) is suffering, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a wide range of views on deer, in particular, from absolute hatred to highly valued,\u201d says Bissell. \u201cNo matter what people like myself say, we\u2019re going to upset or offend somebody or some people.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are estimates of 1.8 million deer across the country. They cost farms hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and repair bills every year and they are now invading the most precious corners of our native bush.<\/p>\n

Bissell runs Backblocks Environmental Management in Wairarapa, specialising in pest and predator control. He says he\u2019s increasingly getting calls from farmers to control the deer on their farms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hitting them in the back pocket more and more on a larger and larger number of properties around the country,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Until now, deer have been \u201ctotally mismanaged\u201d and the only way to bring them under control is for people with different interests and different solutions to work together, he says.<\/p>\n

Today The Detail looks at the decades-long debate on deer control, new measures by the Government to work with interested parties, and the controversial legislation that would see some deer breeds protected and managed.<\/p>\n

Federated Farmers meat and wool chair Richard Dawkins says the explosion in numbers has not been helped by a slump in venison prices that put off commercial hunters.<\/p>\n

Prices have picked up but not to the same level as the boom and bust days in the 1970s and 80s.<\/p>\n

Dawkins has experienced the ravages of deer first-hand on his farm near Blenheim, when deer ran amok through a forestry block.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen trees are young, just been planted, they are very susceptible to browsing damage. Unfortunately we had about five hectares chewed out,\u201d Dawkins says.<\/p>\n

The grass was knee-high but the pests came through and picked out the seedlings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to do a full replant but that\u2019s reflective of what I\u2019m hearing from my Meat and Wool Council nationwide and whether it is damage to farm forestry or pastures or crops it is certainly a theme that\u2019s been going on for a few years now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

A Federated Farmers survey found that the damage and repair costs to farms amounted to $200 million a year.<\/p>\n

Dawkins says no solid data has been collected on deer but, based on population estimates of 1.8 million, numbers need to be culled to 500,000 to 800,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has a part to play in this. Pointing fingers isn\u2019t really a pathway forward and we think every landowner has a responsibility,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Cromwell journalist Jill Herron was motivated to write a series for Newsroom<\/a> about pest problems in the southern region after her own experiences hunting, tramping and walking her dog.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just keep hearing the same thing, about the level of damage that\u2019s happening quietly out in the bush.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it doesn\u2019t really hit you until you see it yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herron\u2019s noticed a significant increase in numbers in the past 10 years around the Southern Lakes and Southland.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeer everywhere,\u201d she says, from the backcountry to the outskirts of towns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere I live in Central Otago I see deer pretty much every second day when I walk my dog down the river or on the council reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says the thing that shocked her most was the damage to native bush that leads to canopy collapse, when deer strip out the understorey of native forest so there is nothing left for the birds to eat or for insects to live in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it means is that the whole forest falls down and dies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out how to listen to and follow\u00a0The Detail\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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