All-or-nothing wildlife approach needs to change
In his recent column, High price to be paid for Government’s ecological failings, Dr Andrew Shepherd is correct in pointing out that in some parts of New Zealand game animal (deer, tahr, chamois and wild pigs) numbers have increased over recent years. As the leader of an organisation working for better outcomes when it comes to game animals and hunting, I am convinced that a more proactive and progressive management approach can achieve far better long-term results than what we have done in the past.
New Zealand’s history of managing game animals has been pretty haphazard. Long periods of little-to-no management punctuated by short periods of intensive reactive control when things get bad, or the commercial climate is just right. This all-or-nothing approach hasn’t worked over the long-term and has created unnecessary conflict within many communities.
Thankfully things are moving on and the collaboration of interests is beginning to define future management thinking.
Under various pieces of legislation and policy, game animals are no longer considered “pests” and haven’t been for some time. They are more accurately referred to as either “wild animals”, “game animals” or designated as “valued introduced species”. This designation includes sports fish (trout and salmon) and recognises the value these animals have to many New Zealanders, including for recreational and commercial opportunities, and as an important source of mahinga kai.
This evolution in status in no way diminishes the environmental challenges that come with deer, pigs and other valued introduced species. As the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy correctly states, “reaching a balance to ensure that valued introduced species continue to provide the benefits they are valued for, while also ensuring that indigenous biodiversity thrives, is a key challenge for Aotearoa New Zealand”.
Herds of Special Interest, as provided for by the Game Animal Council Act, are a modest means of helping to achieve this desired balance and are intended to incorporate a relatively small number of specific herds in specific locations, that are of high value to hunters and that deserve active and ongoing management.
A classic example of what I am talking about is the wapiti (elk) herd located in a remote part of Fiordland. This herd is successfully managed by the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation through a community agreement with DOC that pre-dates but acts as the inspiration for the Herds of Special Interest concept.
The result of this hunter-led management programme is significantly lower animal densities, better outcomes for native vegetation and an extensive predator trapping programme to look after vulnerable populations of whio and kiwi. The benefit to hunters is that this active management also achieves a high-quality hunting resource and one of the most sought-after recreational experiences in New Zealand.
The stunning success of the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation’s work has helped to make it one of New Zealand’s modern conservation success stories. Every dollar that hunters pay to enter (and occasionally win) a wapiti ballot period goes straight back in to managing the herd and any of its impacts as well as the foundation’s other conservation activities. This represents communityled conservation at no cost to the Crown, which is ultimately anticipated as a key feature of the Herds of Special Interest concept.
Other herds that could immediately be considered for Herds of Special Interest status would include sika deer in a discreet part of their central North Island range and tahr in the Southern Alps. These herds are highly valued by hunters, can be geographically defined and already have highly organised community groups involved in management activities.
It is now well-recognised that different animal populations in different places require different site-based management strategies. Simple ecology and experience tell us that by reducing game animal numbers through the targeted management of breeding animals (females) we can produce higher quality, healthier animals and more competitive breeding alongside the achievement of better conservation outcomes. This represents the win-win scenario that is so exciting.
Herds of Special Interest that include scientifically informed management plans, a better-balanced male-female sex ratio, scientifically valid vegetation monitoring and the involvement of community groups are a tool in New Zealand’s future game animal management toolbox and should be welcomed as a step forward by all conservation-minded Kiwis.
The NZ Game Animal Council is a statutory organisation responsible for the sustainable management of game animals and hunting for recreation, communities, commerce and conservation.