Introduction
New Zealand's natural world evolved in the absence of browsing mammals. This allowed a very special collection of flora and fauna to develop which is unique in global terms. Our only indigenous land mammals are bats. Maori brought with them kiore (the Polynesian rat) and kuri (dogs), but the larger grazing and browsing mammals (cattle, sheep, goats, possums and deer) arrived with European settlement after the 1800's.
Deer were first introduced into New Zealand over 150 years ago. More than 250 Red deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) were imported between 1851 and 1919, and around 1000 Red deer had been liberated into the wild by 1923. Other species of deer were imported during the late 1800s and early 1900s and, like the possum, they adapted well to the New Zealand environment.
By the late 1940s Red deer had established themselves throughout much of the North and South Island, occupying 44% of New Zealand's mainland. The other species had formed established herds in localised parts of the country. The short term impact of uncontrolled wild deer populations on New Zealand forests and grasslands soon became clear, as did the economic impact - damage to agricultural crops and plantation forests, and the transmission of disease, most notably Bovine Tuberculosis.
In the 1960s in New Zealand a win/win solution to the problem of increasing wild deer numbers was found through the development of a feral venison export industry, centred largely around Fiordland National Park and other heavily populated areas of the North and South Island. The growing feral venison export industry led to the emergence, in the late 1960s, of deer farming on private properties. Today, 40 years on, there are 5078 deer farmers spread throughout the country and the deer industry represents an important economic activity for New Zealand. Industry exports are valued at $243.8 million a year (November 2004 year). The Department of Conservation has a legal responsibility for managing a part of the legislation relating to the farming of deer in New Zealand as deer are classed as a 'wild animal' under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977.
Deer are now well established in New Zealand; on deer farms, within safari parks, and in the wild over much of mainland New Zealand. However, there are very good reasons, on ecological grounds, in the interests of animal health, and for the protection of New Zealand's meat exporting industry, to ensure deer farming is carefully managed by all parties involved to minimise the risk and incidence of deer escaping to form wild populations. There is a particular priority to prevent deer from expanding their range in the wild, or becoming established in those parts of New Zealand where they currently are not.
Over the past two years the Department has been developing options with the aim of achieving this. The Department has focused on developing an improved set of specifications which would govern the keeping of deer in captivity. The work has been assisted by widespread discussion with key stakeholders.
It is important to note the current consultation process is not about making changes to the Wild Animal Control Act 1977, or about how we manage illegal releases of deer. Nor are we reviewing, at this time, the management of recreational or commercial hunting of wild deer.
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