National wild animal recovery operations (WARO)

New national WARO concession

A process is underway to develop a new national wild animal recovery operations (WARO) concession for WARO operators. The new concession will replace the 2015-2018 national WARO concession, which expired on 30 June 2018.

Eligible WARO concession holders have been issued interim concessions to allow continuity of operations until the new national WARO concession offer can be made.

Regional consultation with WARO operators and other stakeholders on the draft WARO land schedule took place during June/July 2018. Around 430 submissions were received and assessed against relevant legislation, statutory plans and policy.

A decision on the new national WARO concession is expected next year (2019). The decision date is later than initially anticipated due to the complexity of the work, staff capacity and the high level of external interest.

More information on the national WARO permit process: WARO factsheet (PDF, 271K)

Learn more about the draft WARO land access recommendations

WARO concession

A national wild animal recovery operations (WARO) concession is available for:

• the supply of deer, pig, goat and chamois to Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) approved processors, and
• live capture of the same wild animals (excluding chamois) to be placed on authorised properties.

Applicants must:

• have a current supply contract with an approved processor, or a marketing entity that has a contract for processing carcasses with a MPI approved processor, and 
• meet the MPI requirements for these activities. 

National WARO concessions exclude the carriage of either recreational hunters or fare paying passengers. See aerially assisted trophy hunting (AATH) or aircraft activities for more information.

Pre-application discussion

Applying for a concession for the first time can be a little tricky. To ensure your application goes smoothly contact the staff in our Christchurch office.

Type of WARO concession

The National WARO concessions on offer cover the recovery and capture of the following wild animals:

North Island: deer, pig and goat carcass recovery plus live capture of deer, pig and goat.

• See our sample North Island WARO concession (PDF, 1,015K) for more information.
  Note: The North Island document has been updated as per the outcome of the Ruahine access review. See revised Ruahine access maps: map 5 (PDF, 3,881K) and map 6 (PDF, 3,630K).

South Island: deer, pig chamois and goat carcass recovery and live capture of deer.

• See our sample South Island WARO concession (PDF, 846K) for more information.

If you wish to apply for any other type of wild animal recovery operation contact our Christchurch office.

Apply for your concession

• Fill in the concession application form WARO (PDF, 254K)
• Email the form along with the relevant fees and documents requested to permissions@doc.govt.nz.

Your application fee is $2,065.00 plus GST for North Island or South Island concessions.

If your application is approved we will send you a contract which you must sign and return before proceeding with your activity.

Locations for the national WARO concession

• Index map WARO (PDF,803K)
• Map 1 - Area 1, Upper North Island (PDF, 1,474K)
• Map 2 - Area 2, Upper North Island (PDF, 1,960K)
• Map 3 - Area 3, Upper North Island (PDF, 1,770K)
• Map 4 - Area 1, Central North Island (PDF, 1,983K)
• Map 5 - Area 2, Central North Island (PDF, 1,596K)
• Map 6 - Area 1, Lower North Island (PDF, 1,739K)
• Map 7 - Area 1, Upper South Island (PDF, 1,807K)
• Map 8 - Area 2, Upper South Island (PDF, 1,483K)
• Map 9 - Area 2, Lower North Island (PDF, 872K)
• Map 10 - Area 3, Upper South Island (PDF, 1,323K)
• Map 11 - Area 1 Central South Island (PDF, 1,196K)
• Map 12 - Area 2, Central South Island (PDF, 1,710K)
• Map 13 - Area 3, Central South Island (PDF, 1,196K)
• Map 14 - Area 1, Lower South Island (PDF, 928K)
• Map 15 - Area 2, Lower South Island (PDF, 2,328K)
• Map 16 - Area 3, Lower South Island (PDF, 1,611K)
• Map 17 - Area 4, Lower South Island (PDF, 1,607K)
• Map 18 - Area 5, Lower South Island and Stewart Island (PDF, 812K)

More information

The following document may help you when considering your application for a WARO concession.

• WARO approved officers report (PDF, 309K)
• WARO assessment of land for exclusion or restriction (PDF, 1,292K)

WARO access in Ruahine Forest Park

December 2015: A review of WARO access in Ruahine Forest Park took place in July 2015. Read the outcome of the review.

Contact us

For more information about the national or other WARO permit, or assistance with your WARO concession, contact our Christchurch office.