Research finds more deer in the North Island than in the South Island

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-02-17 03:00

New Zealand

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Populations of deer, tahr, wapiti and other hooved animals are growing on New Zealand’s public conservation estate, according to new research. Data extracted from faecal pellets from more than 1300 sites in the North, South, and Stewart/Rakiura Islands over six years suggests that numbers are overall higher in the North Island than the South Island, and that North Island populations are growing by 11 per cent each year. The authors say regularly re-measuring sites and keeping better records of hunting activities should help keep tabs on these animals.