The New Zealand Game Animal Council is celebrating the designation of New Zealand’s first herd of special interest.
The designation follows more than two years’ worth of collaboration between the Game Animal Council and Fiordland Wapiti Foundation, and the Department of Conservation.
“This is a historic day for hunters, and for modern game animal management in New Zealand,” says Game Animal Council Chief Executive Corina Jordan.
“The Fiordland Wapiti Foundation, its committee, supporters, volunteers and the wider wapiti hunting community have worked hard over the last couple of decades to showcase the benefits of hunter-led game animal management. This designation reflects that,” she says.
“Herds of special interest (HOSI) is a modern and future-focused way of managing game animals in New Zealand. It recognises the value of game animals and hunting to New Zealand and allows valued herds to be managed for hunting purposes while ensuring conservation values continue to be protected.
“HOSI enables and empowers practical, responsible and hunter-led game animal management.
“In the case of Fiordland wapiti, this builds on a long-running management model that is largely self-funded, with hunters and the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation meeting much of the cost of herd management, monitoring and wider conservation work.
“The Foundation’s management is internationally recognised and is in one of the most remote and challenging parts of New Zealand. Alongside management, they also maintain huts and tracks, undertake predator control and support wider conservation work in Fiordland National Park,” Corina says.
“The Fiordland Wapiti Foundation has shown what HOSI can achieve with hunters, local communities and agencies working together to manage game animals and support conservation. The Wapiti HOSI designation provides certainty for this work to continue and grow into the future.
Corina says the Game Animal Council has been proud to work closely with the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation to establish the Wapiti HOSI and provide long-term certainty for hunter-led game animal management in Fiordland.
The Game Animal Council has been working with the Department of Conservation since 2022, developing processes and tools so that HOSI may be proposed and considered for designation.
“This early work has supported a comprehensive and robust establishment process that will support future HOSI development.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation, hunters, the Department of Conservation, Ngāi Tahu, Papatipu Rūnanga, and the wider community to support the successful implementation of the Wapiti HOSI,” Corina says.
NZ Game Animal Council – your statutory agency, working to secure NZ hunting and the sustainable management of game animals.
Note: The Minister for Hunting and Fishing retains management, with the Department of Conservation supporting implementation of the Wapiti HOSI on behalf of the Minister. Operational delivery will be undertaken by the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation under arrangements with the Department of Conservation. The Game Animal Council will continue to provide policy, planning, hunting and game animal management expertise to support the implementation of the Wapiti HOSI and as the organisation bound by the herd management plan.
Learn more about the Wapiti HOSI here.
Image: (from left) Game Animal Council member Eugene Rewi, Game Animal Council COO Kaylyn Pinney, Fiordland Wapiti Foundation General Manager Roy Sloan, Minister for Hunting and Fishing Hon James Meager, Game Animal Council CEO Corina Jordan (credit: DOC)