Introduction
The Deer Problem
Deer are a serious pest on public conservation land. There is clear scientific evidence that deer pose a significant and ongoing threat to New Zealand's native forests and grassland ecosystems. Deer prevent regeneration of favoured plant species, which causes significant changes to the structure and composition of native ecosystems. At critical sites, non-replacement of canopy species can lead to canopy collapse.
There is no evidence that equilibrium has been reached between deer and the native ecosystems they inhabit. Deer continue to inhibit forest regeneration even at low density. Because many native plant species can live for hundreds of years, it will be many decades, if not centuries before the longer-term adverse impacts of deer on native forests become clear. In at least some areas, deer induced changes to forests and flow-on effects to other native species are likely to be irreversible.
Deer & TB
Deer are also considered to be a pest by the Animal Health Board and other agencies responsible for TB control. The fact that deer can disperse long distances means that they have the potential to spread TB and re-infect possum populations from which the disease has been eliminated.
Background
In 1997 the Department convened a working party to advise on development of a deer control plan. Public submissions on a discussion document prepared by the working party reflected two significantly different and strongly held views.
Most of the Conservation Boards, Regional Councils, environmental, tramping and botanical organisations expressed the view that wild deer are a pest which threaten New Zealand's native vegetation and ecosystems and therefore should be eradicated or controlled wherever possible.
Hunting organisations and most farming organisations expressed the view that eradication of deer is neither possible nor desirable and their impacts on native ecosystems can be minimised by managing deer as a game resource.
Despite the fact that these one or the other of these views tended to be reflected in most submissions, the proposed goals, strategic directions and priority rankings outlined in the discussion document were acceptable or partially acceptable to most submitters who responded to questions on them.
This Policy Statement
This policy statement sets out the approach the Department will take to deer control. The Department will take a targeted control approach, which is designed to achieve clearly stated outcomes for the protection of indigenous plants and ecosystems.
Unlike the Department's national possum and goat plans, this policy statement does not prescribe areas where deer will be controlled over the next ten years. Priorities for deer control will be assessed using a decision support system that is being developed by the Department, which will allow control of deer, possums, goats and other threats to be better integrated.
The proposed approach will not affect management of deer on private and Maori land, except for control of new and isolated populations and regulation of deer farming. Regional and national pest management strategies (RPMS and NPMS) will continue to be the main mechanisms for controlling deer on private land, where these are in place. The Department will retain the ability to use powers under the Wild Animal Control Act to enter onto land to control deer causing damage to native flora and fauna.
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