Hunters and Nature: why managing wild deer, pigs, tahr, and goats takes more than one tool

Source: NZ Department of Conservation

Hunting is part of New Zealand’s outdoor heritage. For many people, it’s how they were first introduced to the bush. Early starts, learning to read the land and weather, the thrill of the chase, spending time with friends and family, passing knowledge down through generations, and enjoying the harvest. 

Hunting also offers something more. It’s a way to connect with nature, to understand the places we care about, and to play a part in protecting them for the future. 

Seeing the forest up close

When you’re hunting, you see animal sign, hear birdsong, and notice where the good feed and habitat is, or isn’t. This is naturing. Many hunters can tell which areas are recovering, and which are under pressure from browsing wild animals like deer and goats. Hunters’ observations often match what monitoring shows: where browsing is high, the forest is less diverse and preferred plants struggle to regenerate; where deer numbers are lower, those same plants recover ^1–3. Hunters also see that reflected in the condition of the animals they harvest, animals are in better condition in when numbers are low.  

That observation is one reason many hunters value healthy ecosystems and support conservation outcomes. Across the country, hunters already give back in practical ways by trapping predators, maintaining huts, reporting wild animal sightings, and contributing to local conservation projects. 

For many, hunting is both recreation and stewardship. 

The role hunters can play

Introduced wild animals such as deer, pigs, tahr, and goats are becoming more widespread and abundant across New Zealand. When numbers are high, they browse heavily on seedlings and understory plants. Over time, this can change forest structure and reduce the ability of native plants to regenerate and replenish the canopy. This then puts pressure on the habitats our native species depend on.  

Recreational hunters help reduce numbers across many parts of the country. More than 7 million hectares of public conservation land is available for hunting, and hunter effort plays a part in managing wild animal numbers across this wider landscape.  

But there’s an important reality to be clear about. Recreational hunting on its own isn’t enough to reduce animal numbers to levels that protect forest health in many areas. Research and expert commentary in New Zealand indicate relying on recreational hunting alone, without additional targeted control, often isn’t sufficient to reduce animals to low numbers that allow species preferred by introduced wild deer and goats to regenerate in our forests. It’s not a criticism of hunters. It reflects the scale of the ecological challenge.  

In our own monitoring, sites with high deer numbers, like Ruahine Forest Park,  show clear signs of browsing pressure on key plant species.   

Why DOC needs to do intensive, targeted management

Some populations of introduced wild animals, particularly wild deer, are breeding faster than they’re being hunted. Current estimates suggest there are over 1 million wild deer in New Zealand. With a reproductive rate of around 20-30%, that means more than 300,000 new wild deer are added to the population each year.  It takes a coordinated effort to keep numbers at levels that protect forest health. In many areas, the annual offtake needed just to stop populations growing is beyond what recreational hunting can achieve on its own. That’s why collective, targeted work is needed in high priority places to make a difference.  

DOC focuses intensive management on around 1.4 million hectares of high-priority conservation land, where biodiversity values are highest. Including, about 1.2 million hectares where the aim is to reduce browsing pressure from wild goats at priority sites. 

Healthy forests aren’t just about trees. They provide food and shelter for birds, insects, and other native species. Every plant and animal plays a role in keeping ecosystems balanced and more resilient to changing conditions, including climate change. When introduced wild animals browse heavily, key plants struggle to survive, and the animals that depend on them are affected. Protecting biodiversity ensures these ecosystems can continue to function, thrive, and be enjoyed by future generations. 

In these areas, the level of control needed is beyond what recreational hunting alone can usually achieve. That’s why New Zealand needs to use a mix of tools, selected to suit the location, terrain, and ecological values involved: 

• Professional ground hunting – trained teams targeting specific populations in specific areas 

• Aerial control – necessary in remote and rugged areas 

• Exclusion fencing – to protect sensitive ecological sites  

• Management hunts – community-led management hunting projects that contribute to the overall effort to manage animals 

• Commercial Wild Animal Recovery Operations (WARO) – as part of wider management and a contribution to reducing numbers 

• Recreational hunting – as part of wider management and a contribution to reducing numbers 

All of these tools are used together where and when they’re needed. No single approach will work everywhere.  

We need to use a mosaic approach, applying different tools in different places in a coordinated manner. In some areas, sustained and intensive work is required over many years to reduce browsing pressure to levels that allow high priority forests to recover. In some locations, management may include fencing to protect sensitive ecological or land-use values by keeping animals out. In other areas, recreational hunting, or commercial recovery can contribute to reducing numbers across the wider landscape. 

Working together for healthy forests

The message is straightforward: hunters are part of the solution and so is targeted DOC management. Protecting New Zealand’s landscapes requires a mix of approaches informed by monitoring and science. Many of DOC’s efforts also involve iwi and hapū, hunters, and local communities working together to get better outcomes for biodiversity.  

For example, in Molesworth’s ecologically sensitive Turk’s Head area, we teamed up with volunteers from the Marlborough NZ Deerstalkers Association to give wild goat control a real lift. With us providing coordination, some helicopter support and ammunition, the wide-open country became the perfect place for recreational hunters to make a meaningful contribution. In just a few days, volunteers removed more than 1,000 goats, and our DOC team followed soon after also removing over 1000. Working side by side in the right terrain, this combined effort made a noticeable dent in goat numbers and is part of ongoing work aiming to ease pressure on the rare plants and fragile landscapes that make Molesworth so special. 

Get outdoors. Go hunting. Make sure you have a permit. Enjoy the places you care about and be part of looking after them, so nature and everything that depends on it can thrive. And if every hunter knocks over just a few extra animals while they’re out, maybe one for the freezer and one for the forest, it can help reduce numbers across the wider landscape.  

Get outdoors. Hunt. Help nature. 

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References

1. Nugent, G., Forsyth, D. M., Smith-Flueck, J.-A. M. & Latham, A. D. M. Non-Native Deer: Origins, Status, Impacts, and Management. in Deer of the World: Ecology, Conservation and Management (eds Melletti, M. & Focardi, S.) 887–912 (Springer Nature Switzerland, Cham, 2025). doi:10.1007/978-3-031-17756-9_60. 

2. Tanentzap, A. J. et al. Landscape‐level vegetation recovery from herbivory: progress after four decades of invasive red deer control. (2009). 

3. Nugent, G., Fraser, W. & Sweetapple, P. Top down or bottom up? Comparing the impacts of introduced arboreal possums and ‘terrestrial’ ruminants on native forests in New Zealand. Biological Conservation 99, 65–79 (2001). 

4. Allen, K. et al. Long‐term exclusion of invasive ungulates alters tree recruitment and functional traits but not total forest carbon. Ecological Applications 33, e2836 (2023). 

5. Latham, A. D. M. & Nugent, G. Introduction, impacts, and management of non-native deer and other hunted ungulates in New Zealand. Journal of Japan Deer Studies 2017, 41–57 (2017). 

6. Fraser, W. The Effect of Recreational Hunters on Deer Populations in Pureora Conservation Park. Science for Conservation 38 (1996). 

7. Nugent, G. & Choquenot, D. Comparing cost-effectiveness of commercial harvesting, state-funded culling, and recreational deer hunting in New Zealand. Wildlife Society Bulletin 32, 481–492 (2004). 

8. Fraser, K. W. Status and Conservation Role of Recreational Hunting on Conservation Land.  

9. Forsyth, D. M., Allen, R. B., Marburg, A. E., MacKenzie, D. I. & Douglas, M. J. Population dynamics and resource use of red deer after release from harvesting in New Zealand. New Zealand journal of ecology 277–287 (2010).