Deer New Zealand

December 2016 -- I had always heard about New Zealand's' deer farming industry. I had learned that some sheep farmers had added deer or switched to deer farming. In more recent years, dairy has been replacing sheep and deer in New Zealand. Now, forestry seems prime to change the enterprise mix due to carbon credits (and other environmental regulations).

For the velvet

I was hoping we'd get to see a deer farm during our visit to New Zealand. We did (on the North Island), and we got to see them harvest the velvet. I thought it would bother me to see the antlers removed, but it didn't, and the process didn't seem to faze the deer. The stags were herded into pens in a "dark" barn and given drugs to calm them down and reduce any pain associated with antler removal. A veterinarian was involved the whole time.

Not missing their antlers

Back on pasture

Though best known for sheep, New Zealand's mix of livestock has changed over the years. Modern deer farming began in the 1970's and reached its peak in 2004. Nowadays, there are about 800,000 deer on 2,000 farms in New Zealand. It was about the same when we visited in 2016. Deer are farmed for their venison (meat) and velvet from their antlers. New Zealand is the world's largest exporter of deer meat and products. The US is the main importer of the meat, while China imports most of the velvet.

Truck for hauling deer

We also saw deer on a goat farm we visited (on the North Island). It was interesting to learn about deer farming and the challenges in managing these animals. It sounded like vets used to take a beating before they learned how best to handle deer.

Deer grazing