Couple questions????
1) Are the animals you mentioned considered "Pests" in NZ?
2) Is there a "Season" for these animals?
3) Is there a "Limit" for these animals?
4) Is there a law that the meat from these animals must be salvaged?
I'm from Alaska. Alaska does shoot "Pests" from helicopters. Wolves are considered "Pests" in certain parts of the state.When they over populate, they are shot from a helicopter.
Hi
BrnBear 1) These animals are exotic (non native), however there numbers are not in pest proportions. Particularly tahr and chamois, these animals are kept in contained numbers. Deer on the other hand can become a "pest" problem in some areas and risk spreading TB. However, chamois and tahr (which are the prime targets for heli-hunters) are no considered high risks for spreading TB.
2) There are no season's for deer, chamois, or tahr hunting in NZ. There is however a season for freshwater trout & salmon fishing, and a season for waterfowl shooting (they too are all introduced animals). To hunt in NZ you only need to obtain a FREE hunting permit each year, and it's simply a matter of filling in an online form and providing your firearms license no. It is incredibly under regulated in NZ
3) There are no bag limits for how many animals of what ever species you can or can't shoot. It is simply open slather. Some hunting lobbyists / recreational activist groups (like the NZ Big Game Council) are pushing for this to change, however due to the animals' being introduced, our green parties in government don't want to be involved in "managing" non-native animals. Despite
tahr for instance prooving to be one of biggest hunting resources for New Zealand. Particularly given that NZ is the only place in the world where you can hunt them.
4) No law stipulating that meat is to be utilised for personal consumption or sold as domestic/ international product. There are however some operators that do sell deer meat to overseas markets like Germany who demand feral venison..
Shooting "pests" from helicopters is one thing, but for Clients to pay to shoot trophies is something completely different.
