By Corina Jordan, Chief Executive, New Zealand Game Animal Council

A belated happy New Year to you all. I hope you are having a nice summer, and if you got out for a hunt, have been safe and successful.

I’ve spoken before in these updates about how the GAC is seeking changes to current management of New Zealand’s valued introduced game animals. At present, they are managed under the conservation framework which focuses on control, eradication or extermination. While there’s many moving parts to the work that the GAC is doing in this space, it really boils down to one thing – that’s you.

New Zealand needs to step outside its conservation comfort zone and seek to manage game animals in a way that recognises their values and empowers hunters to be central to management.

This is what the GAC is fundamentally working towards – ensuring that hunters and hunter values are embedded in the way that we manage game animals. This is called a sustainable use model and will require system-wide change to the way we currently do things.

A sustainable use model will recognise game animals as valued to people and invests in sustaining that value, and this means hunting remains valued as part of the fabric of New Zealand. If we apply this to a New Zealand context, for example, a deer herd might provide value to a community as free venison, recreational experiences shared with friends and family, and revenue for local businesses through tourism. For this value to continue, the deer herd must remain healthy, so not too many and not too few, and accessible to the community, this means access.

The current model is simple and based on largely considering deer as pests focusing on control and elimination: Even so it is clear the current model has failed. For one, our communities do not want deer eradicated and two, its proven impossible with a few isolated exceptions. Currently management sits with the Department of Conservation (DOC) on public conservation land where hunters are a tool for control in DOCs toolkit.

In a sustainable use model, the value of deer to hunters and communities is acknowledged and management is done in a way that upholds these values while fostering connection between hunters and their local environment, promoting responsibility and empowering hunters to lead in game animal management which would effectively enable innovation, provide less cost to the ratepayer for management, and help prevent overabundance. This help is crucial to supporting game animal managers to achieve great and long-term outcomes for New Zealand.

Sometimes bureaucracy needs to get out of the way and let others lead. We require a management model that enables and empowers hunters and communities to drive action. Local communities are a huge source of change, and the role of government should be to facilitate alignment across the country, as opposed to the current failed top-down approach.

Investing in hunters and their communities, understanding what they value and what they are able to contribute means communities feel a sense of ownership over their actions, their land and the future of the environment that sustains their lives. New Zealand needs to have courage to take a step outside our conservation comfort zone and think about management in a radically different way. A sustainable use model could be just the solution we’re looking for.

The year ahead

There’s a fair bit on at the moment and I’ve noted some key topics below. To stay up to date, sign up to our email newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

  1. Firearms law reform – The government is seeking feedback on new draft firearms law. Submissions close 11.59pm, Monday, 16 February 2026. The GAC will be reviewing the detail and drafting up a submission. We encourage all firearms holders to consider making a submission. See more on the Parliament website.
  2. Herds of Special Interest (HOSI) – We understand that the Minister intends to decide whether to designate a Wapiti or Sika HOSI in the first half of this year. The GAC is providing advice to the Minister to support his decision making.
  3. Game Animal Council (Herds of Special Interest) Amendment Bill – the Bill is currently going through its parliamentary process. When it gets to the ‘Committee of the Whole House’ stage hopefully in February or early 2026, the House will deliberate on the Bill and make any changes. A third reading and Royal Assent will follow before it is made law. Both HOSI and the Bill are important as it’s a step in the right direction toward a sustainable use model. The GAC is pleased to see progress in the right direction and supports any changes to legislation and policy that enables better management of New Zealand’s valued introduced species and recognition of hunting as valued to New Zealand.
  4. AATH permit review – The Minister has initiated a AATH (aerially assisted trophy hunting) permit review. The GAC will be working to present the views of the hunting sector and the opportunities for improving hunter game animal management outcomes. This process is led by DOC, and we understand that it does not include a full public consultation process.

We will continue developing our online hunter training platform, Better Hunting, with some new things on the horizon – watch this space. We’ll also continue to engage across the sector to ensure that we are best able to represent your views to government and government bodies. We appreciate your ongoing support of the GAC.

All the best,

Corina