This page contains frequently asked questions for the Central North Island Sika Herd of Special Interest (Sika HOSI). Learn more about the Sika HOSI here.
FAQs on this page:
- Why is a Sika HOSI needed?
- How is the sika herd special?
- Where is the Sika HOSI?
- How will the Sika HOSI benefit New Zealand?
- How will sika be managed for hunting?
- Is the HOSI only about protecting the sika herd?
- How does the Sika HOSI fit with conservation?
- What if I have an open hunting permit from DOC?
- Who will be undertaking monitoring?
- Will the Sika HOSI restrict access?
- Will it cost to hunt in the sika area?
- How does the Sika HOSI affect the RHAs?
- Does this mean the sika herd is only for trophy hunters?
- Can there still be toxic control operations in the HOSI area?
- How does the Sika HOSI impact adjacent landowners/managers?
- Will the Sika HOSI affect activities and access for non-hunters?
- What is the Game Animal Council responsible for?
- What is the Sika Foundation responsible for?
- What is the Department of Conservation responsible for?
1. Why is a Sika HOSI needed?
The Central North Island sika herd is treasured by many New Zealand hunters and communities. The Sika HOSI recognises that sika are not simply an introduced animal to be controlled and eradicated, but a valued game animal herd that can be actively managed for hunting purposes while ensuring conservations values continue to be protected. Through recent management by the Central North Island Sika Foundation, this herd and the environment are beginning to benefit from active hunter-led management efforts, herd and forest monitoring, education initiatives and predator control programmes.
The Sika HOSI designation formalises and supports this work. It provides a statutory framework for sustainable, evidence informed management that recognises hunting, community and conservation values are compatible.
2. How is the sika herd special?
The Central North Island sika herd originated from a gift (koha) from the Duke of Bedford in England to the New Zealand Government. It was received by the Tourist and Publicity Department in 1904 and released on Poronui Station in January 1905.
New Zealand’s sika herd is the only wild herd of sika in the Southern Hemisphere. Sika hunting is an iconic drawcard that brings domestic and international hunting tourism and economic benefit to the Central North Island area.
Sika have unique traits – they are vocal, inquisitive and elusive, have unique markings and produce high-quality antlers – which make hunting them an incredibly special experience. They are a key source of affordable high-quality meat in the Central North Island for hunters, tangata whenua and the wider community. The herd supports local food security with tonnes of wild, free-range sika venison being provided by hunters to local foodbanks and families in need every year.
The sika herd is part of the fabric of the Central North Island, connecting conservation, recreation, communities and commerce across the region, inspiring the Southern Hemisphere’s largest annual hunting tradeshow – the Sika Show.
The sika herd encourages hunter stewardship with thousands of volunteer hours every year dedicated to wider conservation, including work to protect local indigenous species like whio (blue duck) and pekapeka (bats).
3. Where is the Sika HOSI?
The Sika HOSI applies to the sika herd within Kaimanawa Forest Park, Kaweka Forest Park and Kaweka Forest Conservation Area, southeast of Lake Taupō, as shown in the map below:
4. How will the Sika HOSI benefit New Zealand?
- Benefit: Community supported and led game animal management. How? Empowering community, mana whenua and hunters to engage in sika management in a way that supports local outcomes.
- Benefit: Improved conservation outcomes. How? Sika can be kept at levels that support forest regeneration, healthier habitats and reduced browsing pressure where needed.
- Benefit: Improved hunting outcomes. How? Sika herd quality can be improved – animal health, herd structure, venison and stag quality, providing for hunting values and high-quality experiences.
- Benefit: Hunting, health and wellbeing, quality protein resource, and economic outcomes. How? Sika herd can provide sustainable hunting experiences and opportunities that continue to support health and wellbeing, food gathering, tourism, and local communities.
- Benefit: Reduced reliance on government funding. How? Game animal management and conservation/community initiatives can expand, with cost recovery and external investment opportunities.
5. How will sika be managed for hunting?
Managing sika for hunting means managing the herd in a way that provides for hunting values and delivers high-quality hunting experiences.
Animal health, herd structure and venison and stag quality provide high-quality hunting opportunities. Management can include management of hunting as an activity. This can be done through hunter led management hunts, targeted removal of animals in areas where appropriate, hunter engagement in monitoring the quality of the herd and hunter feedback on the hunting experience and the values that make it special (i.e. adventure, sense of excitement, connection to place etc.).
Hunter satisfaction will be monitored through feedback on quality of sika available, the hunting experience, and hunter harvest. Management actions can then be tweaked to respond to hunter feedback.
Hunter education will also be provided to support safe, sustainable and positive hunting experiences.
The Sika HOSI empowers community, mana whenua and hunters to engage in sika management in a way that supports local outcomes.
6. Is the HOSI only about protecting the sika herd?
The designation of a Sika HOSI is about recognising the value of the herd and emphasising proactive and sustainable herd management to achieve high quality hunting outcomes alongside conservation, community and economic benefits. Sustainable management will often require targeted removal of animals – often female focused – to deliver healthier animals for hunting purposes, alongside conservation outcomes.
The designation means sika within the HOSI area will be managed for their value as game animals under the Game Animal Council Act 2013, rather than controlled or eradicated as wild animals under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977.
The Sika HOSI must also be managed in a way that is consistent with New Zealand’s conservation law and wider framework. The Sika HOSI herd management plan includes ecological objectives and targets for sika to be managed at levels that support forest regeneration and the protection of conservation values.
7. How does the Sika HOSI fit with conservation?
The Sika HOSI must be managed in a way that is consistent with New Zealand’s conservation law and wider framework.
The Sika HOSI continues to protect conservation values through ongoing ecological monitoring and the targeting of female populations to manage animal numbers and browse pressure, where needed.
The Sika HOSI herd management plan contains ecological objectives and thresholds that will be met through active management of the sika herd. This aims to allows for canopy regeneration and supports the maintenance of forest ecosystem processes and the protection of threatened species and their habitats (see objective 1 in the herd management plan).
8. What if I have an open hunting permit from DOC?
As the special conditions for the Sika HOSI hunting areas and Forest Parks currently remain the same, no further action is required from permit holders. Your current Open Hunting Permit for the Lower North Island Region remains valid. When you are prompted to renew your Open Hunting Permit, the new permit will reflect these changes.
9. Who will be undertaking monitoring?
Herd health, herd management, and hunter satisfaction monitoring will be undertaken by the Central North Island Sika Foundation under arrangements with the Game Animal Council.
Vegetation and ecological monitoring in the Sika HOSI area will be undertaken by the Department of Conservation.
Management responses resulting from monitoring will be considered by the Game Animal Council, in collaboration with the Central North Island Sika Foundation, and the Department of Conservation, mana whenua, and hunters.
This information will help guide annual operational planning and support adaptive management of the Sika HOSI over time.
10. Will the Sika HOSI restrict access?
HOSI is management for hunting purposes which means that changes to access in the Sika HOSI must improve hunting opportunities or experiences within the Sika HOSI. If at any point, changes to access are being considered, hunters, mana whenua, and wider community will be engaged to provide input and feedback on proposals.
11. Will it cost to hunt in the Sika HOSI area?
There is no automatic fee to hunt sika in the Sika HOSI. If at any point, fees are being considered, hunters, mana whenua, and wider community will be engaged to provide input and feedback on proposals.
12. How does the Sika HOSI affect the RHAs?
The Sika HOSI overlaps with the Kaimanawa and Kaweka Recreational Hunting Areas (RHAs) established under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977. The Sika HOSI does not alter the legal status of these two RHAs, however the sika herd is no longer managed under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977 and is instead managed through the herd management plan under the Game Animal Council Act 2013.
13. Does this mean the sika herd is only for trophy hunters?
No. The sika herd is primarily valued for meat gathering and hunting experience.
The Sika HOSI is about managing the herd for the range of hunting values and experiences associated with the herd. This includes meat hunting, recreational hunting, family and community hunting, trophy hunting, and the opportunity to hunt sika in a valued Central North Island setting.
Improving herd quality does not mean managing only for trophy animals. It means managing the herd and its habitat so that hunters can continue to enjoy sustainable, high-quality hunting opportunities, healthy animals, better venison and improved stag quality over time. The herd management plan recognises that the value of the herd extends beyond harvesting an animal, including food security, community venison donations, hunter wellbeing and intergenerational hunting values.
14. Can there still be toxic control operations in the HOSI area?
Yes. A HOSI designation does not automatically prevent predator or vector control operations from occurring in the Sika HOSI area. This could include, for example, TB-related possum control operations, or predator control operations undertaken for conservation purposes.
Where these operations are proposed, the Game Animal Council and Central North Island Sika Foundation will work with the responsible agency so that operational planning includes mitigation of potential impacts on the sika herd, hunters, and wider community, including through the provision of meat.
Hunters should always check the Department of Conservation pesticide summaries map to ensure that wild game meat is safe to harvest for eating. You can also use the pesticide information tool on Better Hunting, which tells you the caution periods for each poison, buffer zones for specific animal species, and the date that it is safe to harvest meat.
15. How does the Sika HOSI impact adjacent landowners/managers?
The Sika HOSI does not affect landowners’ or land managers’ ability to manage game animals on their land. A HOSI can only be designated on public conservation land.
Once a sika leaves the HOSI area, it is no longer subject to the herd management plan. Instead, it is subject to control under the Wild Animal Control Act 1977.
Effective management of the Sika HOSI will still require consideration of sika movement across boundaries and will require engagement with adjacent landholders to achieve management at a landscape scale.
16. Will the Sika HOSI affect activities and access for non-hunters?
No. The Sika HOSI designation does not relate to or affect other activities within the Sika HOSI area. Existing rules and requirements preventing hunting near huts and tracks and other conditions of permits remain in place.
17. What is the Game Animal Council responsible for?
The Minister for Hunting and Fishing delegated management of the Sika HOSI to the Game Animal Council. This means the Game Animal Council is the statutory entity responsible for implementing the Sika HOSI herd management plan and associated annual operational plans, budget, and reporting.
The Game Animal Council’s role may include undertaking hunter and community engagement and education and supporting the Central North Island Sika Foundation with herd management activities, data collection, herd health monitoring, venison recovery, and other practical management activities set out through annual operational planning. A key role for the Game Animal Council is to support the Central North Island Sika Foundation in effective day-to-day delivery of Sika HOSI operations.
The Game Animal Council will be working with iwi and hapū to uphold mana whenua perspectives and cultural values.
18. What is the Sika Foundation responsible for?
The Central North Island Sika Foundation will undertake operational delivery of the Sika HOSI herd management plan under arrangements with the Game Animal Council.
The Foundation’s role will include supporting hunter and community engagement, education, and undertaking herd management activities, data collection, herd health monitoring, venison recovery, and other practical management activities set out through annual operational planning.
It will also play a key role in working with iwi and hapū to uphold mana whenua perspectives and cultural values through the delivery of this work.
19. What is the Department of Conservation responsible for?
The Department of Conservation (DOC) retains lead responsibility for ecological monitoring in the Sika HOSI area and ensuring Treaty obligations are met.
DOC maintains a monitor role as the administrating agency for the Game Animal Council Act 2013 and other conservation legislation relevant to the Sika HOSI.