Game Animals of New Zealand
New Zealand is an environmentally amazing country, full of diverse landscapes ranging from the "rugged mountains and valleys of Fiordland in the South Island to the low rolling hills of Northland in the North Island". When Maori settlers first arrived there were no large animals. Instead there were large flightless birds called the moa and the kiwi. But when early European settlers came to New Zealand they became homesick and they released wild pigs and shortly after more animals followed like the Red deer, Whitetail deer, Wapiti (Elk), Sika deer, Fallow deer, Rusa deer, Samber deer and two alpine species, Thar and Chamois. Most of these species were protected when they were first released into New Zealand but they quickly became pests to the native flora and fauna. Extensive culling was carried out for many years to reduce the number of wild deer and alpine species in New Zealand's wild high country, gradually the need for culling disappeared but many operators moved to meat shooting for venison production and when deer farming began live capture became a very lucrative scene, deer could now be sold to "deer farmers" for a huge price, this helicopter hunting for live deer soon changed back to meat shooting for venison production. There is a long battle in New Zealand whether or not helicopters should be used to control our unique deer herds and alpine species because of the indisciminate killing. Slowly more and more people are viewing New Zealands game animals as a world class resource and top notch trophy destination. This website is a brief overview of game animals in New Zealand.