Wapiti presence key for park: advocates

Otago Daily Times

29-05-2025

Eliminating wapiti from Fiordland National Park will end up destroying the park, a backer of the exotic breed says.
Earlier this month, Forest & Bird hit out at Hunting and Fishing Minister James Meager's announcement the government planned to make wapiti a herd of special interest that would allow them to live in Fiordland National Park.
Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki questioned why help would be given to 512 hunters shooting 86 deer in a national park. The introduced feral species damaged the natural habitat of endangered species.
Fiordland Wapiti Foundation founder and general manager Roy Sloan was baffled by the comments from Forest & Bird and said the wapiti were helping conservation efforts. He was aware Ms Toki had been into the area to see the foundation's conservation work.
He also said Ms Toki's figures were incorrect.
''What about the 1200 deer that we shoot every year for the benefit of conservation outcomes?
''It's not about a big vege patch, it's about who is protecting the sanctuary.''
The foundation's ''number one purpose'' was to protect Fiordland National Park, he said.
Controlling the deer numbers also managed their impact and maintained the quality of the animal.
''We're the only ones undertaking deer control in Fiordland National Park,'' Mr Sloan said.
Forest & Bird said undermining the incredible landscapes and habitats of Fiordland National Park so a few hunters could shoot a small number of deer each year was catering to a handful of vested interests at the expense of all New Zealanders.
''To be clear, Forest & Bird is not anti-hunting. Hunting is part of the toolbox in tackling the out-of-control numbers of browsing animals that are causing significant damage to New Zealand's environment and many of our members are keen hunters. However, we are equally clear that putting precious time and taxpayer money into a Herd of Special Interest is not a priority.''
It said the government was looking at changing the law to let a North American deer species use the national park as a ''glorified vege patch''.
Hunters also donated multiple tonnes of venison to food banks and KiwiHarvest.
Doc national programmes director Ben Reddiex said the organisation monitored all deer populations and vegetation but also supported the foundation's work.
The foundation managed wapiti in a designated area to limit wapiti-red deer hybrid offspring being established by the red deer that were widespread throughout the park.
Mr Sloan believed if wapiti were removed and the foundation closed, the park would be decimated by the red deer population which hunters helped to keep under control.
The foundation had been managing the wapiti population since 1991 and members considered themselves ''guardians''.
The foundation had also managed, paid for, and operated more than 550 predator control traps in five river catchments in the Glaisnock Wilderness area to protect native birds since its predator trapping programme started in 2005.
Hunters reported bird species sightings via an app and had amassed more than 40,000 hours of native bird monitoring each year or the equivalent of 20 years' work for one person, he said.
Since 2005, members had seen the threatened Northern Fiordland whio (blue duck) population increase to up to 3000 birds.
The ducks are particularly vulnerable to stoats.
Other native bird species had also benefited from the predator control programme, he said.
One of the last strongholds of kiwi was in the designated wapiti area.
The foundation's goals had always been conservation first and based on having a low number of high-quality healthy wapiti that enabled the native fauna and flora to thrive — a healthy environment also meant a healthy wapiti herd, Mr Sloan said.
The foundation's conservation model was attracting international interest as ''one of the top models on the planet''.