Helicopter-based Hunting in Fiordland

Helicopter-based Hunting In Fiordland

Helicopter hunting of deer has occurred in the Fiordland area of New Zealand since the 1960s. As long ago as the 1920s, introduced European deer plagued the Fiordland National Park to the detriment of the native New Zealand flora and fauna. The New Zealand government placed a bounty on the deer, paying local hunters for each animal removed from the park. With the market for venison and deerskin, by the 1960s this had proved a lucrative enough business for several hunters to invest in helicopters, to travel fast through the rugged landscape.

Deer populations plummeted as a result, and competition among hunters grew more fierce. Accusations of sabotage and the flouting of rules became common in this unregulated industry. Combined with a growing farm-raised deer industry, and the impact of New Zealand government's efforts to poison the wild deer population with 1080 poison, the helicopter hunting market declined steeply. However, its legacy lives on, as former hunting helicopters these days carry tourists and hunters into the New Zealand wilderness.