Deer Farms Thought Feasible

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31730, 13 July 1968, Page 1

Deer Farms Thought Feasible

Several hundred animals were now being reared in captivity, and the farming of red deer in New Zealand should be feasible, a senior officer of the Forest Service in Wellington, Mr K. H. Miers, said yesterday.

Mr Miers, who has been described by the Wildlife branch of the Internal Affairs Department as an authority on red deer, had been asked to comment on the raising of red deer under confined conditions at Lincoln College. Mr Miers said he could see nothing wrong with the type of land at Lincoln being used for deer research. The stags and hinds held there would, with careful handling, become reasonably tame. Asked whether the red deer was the least adaptable of the deer species to being raised in enclosures, he said that so far he knew of no work to prove or disprove this view, but the red deer was considered to be the main species suitable for deer farming in New Zealand. Questioned on the likelihood of red deer stags becoming dangerous at certain times of the year, Mr Miers said that most of the accidents involving deer—such as those reported in the United States—concerned animals which had been reared by human beings, and as a result had no fear of man. However, a North Island firm which was raising red deer in captivity at Taupo

had destroyed half a dozen obstreperous stags. Referring to the “touchy” state of the deer at Lincoln, Mr Miers said that this was to be expected. “They have to be very carefully handled and penned over the first few weeks,” he said. “You just can’t put them in behind wire straight away. You must condition them to being enclosed.” Asked whether environment was a decisive factor in the successful raising of deer in captivity, Mr Miers said that not enough was known of this aspect. Several hundred deer were now in captivity in New Zealand. The hinds could become quite tame. He thought it could be possible to erect artificial shelter for deer, and this should be adequate. Mr Miers said he did not think he could place a figure on the suitable ratio of acres to deer, but work on this question had been done by Consolidated Traders, of Wellington. In view of the return of venison per animal, would not beef be a better proposition? Mr Miers was asked. He replied that the group which made submissions to a select committee of Parliament before legislation was amended permitting deer farming said that venison would bring in a greater return in price per lb than lamb or beef. Since devaluation, he understood the price per lb was about 40c. The same group also said to the select committee that venison carrying veterinary certificates would open up markets previously closed to wild venison, and it was believed that certificated venison would realise prices well in excess of those for wild venison.

Asked which species of deer would be the most suitable for deer farming, Mr Miers said that this was affected by a basic requirement in legislation allowing deer farming —that no deer farms would be licensed in areas outside the feral range of the species concerned, and the greater part of the South and North Islands had red deer. This should not be construed as meaning that deer farming could be done in high-country erodable lands. Deer farming had to be on reasonable land, and had to be carried on in an area already inhabited by the species being raised. Sika deer and samba deer would not be permitted in the South Island, and fallow deer would be permitted only in a few restricted areas of the North and South Island. When the question of stocking limits was referred to the director of Consolidated Traders, Ltd, of Wellington (Mr T. R. Giles), he said he was not prepared to co-operate in giving information. “But I can tell you that on some country you would need 100 acres for each deer, but we

have successfully raised 15 to the acre.” When told of inquiries that “The Press” had made about the feasibility of raising red deer under intensive conditions, Mr Giles said: “I am the authority on deer farming in New Zealand. I have been working on this for 15 years.” Mr Giles was critical of reports on the Lincoln College project and described them as highly inaccurate.