Latest news with #Hosi
Otago Daily Times
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Game council wants role in national parks
The Game Animal Council says existing conservation law is outdated, needs to recognise the contributions of hunters to the environment and it wants to take over the operating of game animals in national parks. The council yesterday released its submission to the select committee on the Game Animal Council (herds of special interest) Amendment Bill which closed last Thursday. The Bill, if passed, would allow the minister for hunting and fishing to establish herds of special interest (Hosi) in a national park and therefore exempt the herd from extermination or eradication requirements under conservation legislation. The council was fully supportive of the Bill. It said in its submission to achieve effective and inclusive conservation, hunting needs to be integrated into "our conservation narratives". "By engaging hunters as partners in conservation, we not only harness their expertise but also embody a more comprehensive approach to environmental stewardship. "Hunters play a crucial role in controlling game animal populations, harvesting more than 350,000 big game animals annually (including deer), which exceeds government pest control efforts." The council said hunters and conservationists were often seen as opposites, but they shared common aspirations for protecting nature — driven by different motivations, but united in purpose. Current conservation law and policy did not recognise these different motivations or values that people held for conservation land. The Hosi mechanism enabled game animal management while protecting biodiversity on public conservation lands. It aimed to support hunting while preserving conservation values, the council said. Hosi were designed to focus on herds highly valued by hunters. So far two applications had been made — for sika deer in the Kaimanawa and Kaweka Forest Parks and wapiti deer in Fiordland National Park. Game animals were only currently referenced in terms of extermination. Having a Hosi in a national park was a new way of thinking about conservation. The council said recreational hunting supported about 2500 jobs and the guided hunting sector directly employed more than 530 people and generated more than $100 million in annual foreign sales. "There is a growing interest in sustainable, wild-harvested meat. Using taxpayer money to remove a reliable source of high-quality protein undermines public benefit," it said. "The management of the quality and quantity of game animals harvested by hunters has the potential to offer more effective control than an expansion of government control efforts." The council in its submission said hunters were only permitted to reduce or exterminate the very animals hunters sought to access. The submission also said game animals did not stay within mapped boundaries. Without physical barriers, game animals would cross between land ownership boundaries. Limiting Hosi management to one land ownership would lead to inconsistent and inefficient management. The council wanted to adopt a more unified approach that spanned all land ownership types and it needed more power to assist the minister in establishing and managing a Hosi. A Parliament spokesman said it was unable to say how many submissions were made to the Bill. The number would be released by the Environment Committee which would hear submissions. — APL
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Protection wanted for white-tailed deer
A hunting lobby group wants white-tailed deer classed as a herd of special interest as pressure goes on their existence in the South. The status of both white-tailed deer and wapiti were hot topics at the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association's annual meeting in Invercargill last weekend. Association president Callum Sheridan said there was a lot of interest in the herds of special interest (Hosi) because 1080 poisoning operations on Stewart Island/Rakiura were threatening the geographically isolated white-tailed herds. The Department of Conservation website says the department administers 44 designated hunting blocks where the white-tailed deer live on Stewart Island. Herds were also established at the head of Lake Wakatipu: the two South Island locations are home to the only herds in the southern hemisphere. Mr Sheridan said aerial 1080 poisoning was a big problem. "Obviously Rakiura is going to be hammered, so that's really going to impact the white herd. They're a lot more susceptible to poison than other species." While it was illegal to kill deer with 1080 poison, they did die as a result of by-kill, he said. He would like protections and herd management established for white-tail deer similar to those the wapiti species had. But a dedicated white-tail foundation needed to be established as well as it being officially recognised as a Hosi. "There is quite a lot of economic value to our deer herds and white-tails [are] one of them." International hunters came specifically to hunt the species, also known as the "grey ghost". "New Zealand's like the last frontier place that you can come and hunt without too much restriction. "There's a lot of spending that goes on, especially from overseas ... all sorts of numbers bandied about over the years, right up to about $180 million. "Every time somebody goes hunting, they're spending some form of money ... whether it's buying ammunition, gear or food, or just spending money at the petrol station to get there." Any sort of game animal was also a resource for people to be able to feed themselves, he said. Conference guest speaker Hunting and Fishing Minister James Meager said he believed hunters were among the nation's greatest conservation tools as they were in the bush daily maintaining tracks, huts and animal populations. Hunters had support from the government for their work and he was supporting new legislation to recognise Hosi, he said. Submissions on making wapiti a herd of special interest closed yesterday.
Otago Daily Times
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
The wapiti exception
At first glance, the plan to grant wapiti deer special status in Fiordland National Park seems inappropriate. Wapiti damage the forest understorey through browsing. When deer, tahr, and goats proliferate unchecked, the destruction across forests, valleys, and alpine pastures becomes severe. Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki said this week that the proposal to designate the wapiti as a herd of special interest (Hosi) amounts to the government "looking at changing the law to let a North American deer species use the national park as a glorified vege patch". She argued it was "eating away at the very natural heritage that these sanctuaries have been legally designed to protect. What next? A sanctuary for stoats?" The plan was catering to a handful of vested interests at the expense of all New Zealanders, she said. Ms Toki said Forest & Bird was baffled by the prioritisation of government time and energy into helping 512 hunters shoot 86 deer in a national park. Scepticism surrounding the move is heightened by widespread concerns about the government's alleged tendency to cater to vested interests, as well as Act New Zealand's connections to the gun and hunting lobbies. Cementing the place for a non-native species in a national park raises concerns, particularly given the National Park Act stipulates: "Introduced plants and animals shall as far as possible be exterminated." As a matter of principle, Forest & Bird would struggle to support the planned status for the wapiti. Last year, the organisation sought a judicial review of an agreement between the Department of Conservation and the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation, arguing that the agreement did not comply with the National Parks Act. The review has since been paused. Under the agreement, the foundation is permitted to manage a wapiti herd while undertaking pest control and other conservation efforts in the area. Whatever the concerns over principle and precedent, strong pragmatic and practical arguments support the Hosi designation and the government's parallel plan to amend the law, clarifying that a herd of special interest can be established in national parks. The foundation manages six back-country huts and more than 500 predator-control traps in the wapiti area. Its annual ballot attracts thousands of domestic and international hunters. Wapiti, known as elk overseas, were given to New Zealand by United States president Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. They have since interbred with red deer, and wapiti remain prized trophy animals. Ecologist Cam Speedy, who works with the foundation, said the wapiti efforts over 200,000ha of Fiordland had yielded positive outcomes for both the environment and hunters. Wapiti density was only two to four per hectare, the lowest deer density in almost all Fiordland. Combined with the pest control that Doc could never undertake, the environment and native birdlife were thriving, more so than in almost all the rest of the park. By harnessing hunters' energy, the initiative enhanced environmental, cultural, social, and economic values, Mr Speedy said. It is in the foundation's interests to maintain relatively low numbers and ensure healthy forests — an approach that ultimately improves the quality of the stags and their antlers. There are occasions when the Department of Conservation can collaborate with hunters to manage deer or tahr populations. More often, however, hunters alone cannot be relied upon to keep numbers sufficiently low, and the resulting ecological damage is serious and enduring. The Wapiti Foundation's efforts in Fiordland, now firmly established, represent an exception and should be regarded as such. Nevertheless, periodic reviews and independent monitoring could add another layer of long-term assurance. Wapiti could never be fully "exterminated" from the national park. Instead, a controlled approach has emerged, offering multiple benefits. Formally designating the population as a herd of special interest should help secure these advantages.
