Thread: Its happening now part of history.

NZDA Letter. Why we should all be members:

Honourable Todd McClay,
Minister for Hunting and Fishing,
T.McClay@ministers.govt.nz
29 August 2024
Dear Todd,
We felt it important to write to you to share the position of New Zealand Deerstalkers Association on the
recently announced progression of the Rakiura Predator Free project.
Rakiura and the unique experiences it offers for visitors and in particular hunters are highly valued by the
hunting community across New Zealand. NZDA branches and members organise trips to Rakiura
constantly and most of the hunting blocks, both public land and Maori land, are booked almost
continuously thoroughout the year.
While it varies a little, on average 600 parties travel to and hunt predominantly White-tailed deer while
enjoying fishing and diving (J. Delury 2024 pers comm). That equates to around 3000 people travelling to
the island annually and many have made the same trip for many years and some have been doing it for
decades.
Hunting visitors contribute to conservation in many ways on Rakiura in addition to keeping deer numbers
in check. Rat, possum, cat and weed control being predominant but also shoreline clean ups are supported
by hunters as well. The Masons Bay Rat work has been externally funded since shortly after it began. The
work is contributed by volunteers from the Southland Branch NZDA, who for 17 years have maintained a
trap line of 14 km controlling rats and cats in that area.
The Predator Free Rakiura Project has been talked about and developed over a very long time. NZDA is
signatory to a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2019. The funding of the project by DOC in
partnership with Zero Invasive Pests through NEXT Foundation marks a significant point in the delivery of
this project.
Recently we have been engaged in discussions with both DOC and ZIP around trial work and the more
general proposition of an eradication project to remove Rats, Cats, Hedgehogs and Possums across the
entire island. We have approached this in an open minded and constructive manner and attempted to
provide our best advice. This last while we have finally been able to share the context of some of that
work with our members.
The proposed methodology is to aerially poison the island with high rates of 1080 cereal based bait
followed by a second round of toxin laced baits at half the rate. As you will appreciate this presents a
very significant risk to White-tailed deer who habitually feed from forest floors and seek more
concentrated foods. Cereal baits are like lollies to deer unless they are made unpalatable with repellent.
Trial work with White-tailed deer in the Dart Rees area at Glenorchy (Pinney et al 2021) demonstrated that
deer repellent is effective at reducing the uptake of baits but unfortunately those trials were conducted
with an older repellent that is not now available and had a short shelf life.
Even with the use of repellent deer will consume baits and while the mortality rate of that is a fraction
(estimated 10% with low sow rates) of any operation without repellent, it still results in considerable
impact on deer herds. In this case there would be an additional additive effect with two toxic applications
in short succession. Without repellent, observed mortality rates of 97% (Molesworth 2019) and 100%
mortality (Muller Station in 2019) are likely. With the two application method proposed the expectation
would be a similar outcome and a failure of the eradication due to deer removing so much bait. A study
of effectiveness of a new repellent "ProDeer" at Molesworth in 2021 proved its effectiveness to result in
2% accidental by-kill and most importantly there appeared to be no indication that use of repellent
reduced possum kill rates so it appears to mitigate the risk however that work was with Red Deer in open
country.
Deer have been excluded from the eradication list due to the cultural and community commitment to
retaining them as both an attractant to visitors and as essentially the only red meat food resource for
islanders. This has been reiterated at various points along the development of the project and is recorded
in documents developing the project over 16 years. It is fair to state that it was a prerequisite for the
project being palatable to island inhabitants and hunters alike. The recent confirmation that this project
will use aerially applied 1080 baits is extremely concerning as registration of the toxin 1080 excludes
aerial use to control deer. Without use of repellent this operation will target deer by default. This is a
difficult space for all parties and many abhor the use of aerially applied toxins generally.
NZDA supports the idea of a predator free island and has communicated this with our members and
across our media statements (attached). However, it is predicated on the protection of the deer herds. At
present there is no guarantee that the contracted party will respect and honour previous assurances and
we want to make you aware there is a considerable risk to both a heavily utilised hunting resource but
also social acceptance of these types of operations going forward from a poor decision made for
Rakiura.
It is our belief that regardless of if PFR trial work is successful or not it will be the relationship with local
community groups and the greater visitor community that dictates the future of further operations.
NZDA members support the general proposition of PFR but it is contingent on commitment to doing the
utmost to both reduce impact on visiting hunting parties and any mortality of deer through the use of
effective deer repellent across the entire island. We felt it necessary to highlight to you the importance of
this experience to hunters and the island community as well and we hope this letter helps inform you as
to what the issues are and what our approach to those issues will be.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you directly and answer any questions you may have
for us.
References:
Morriss, G., Yockney, I., Nugent, G. (2021). High effectiveness of deer-repellent Prodeer 1080 possum bait in
the northern South Island high country, Manaaki Whenua, Landcare Research, OSPRI-R-1005
NZDA Advocacy Alert, https://www.deerstalkers.org.nz/reso...vocacy-update-
predator-free-rakiura/
Pinney, K. A., Ross, J. G., & Paterson, A. M. (2021). Assessing EDR and a novel deer repellent for reducing
by-kill of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), during aerial 1080 operations. New Zealand
Journal of Zoology, 49(3), 199–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/03014223.2021.1978510
Kind regards,
Craig Benbow
Rakiura Lead NZDA
Callum Sheridan
National President NZDA