Deer and Goat
Management Programme
The largest Indigenous-led deer management programme in Aotearoa, operational in 110,000 hectares in the Raukūmara ranges.
DEER AND GOAT MANAGEMENT
A new benchmark for landscape-scale pest management
Across Aotearoa, feral animals - particularly deer, goats, and pigs - are causing extensive damage to forests, farmland, and infrastructure, undermining agricultural productivity, biodiversity, and the resilience of native ecosystems.
The Raukūmara ranges are among the most severely impacted landscapes, where uncontrolled browsing has stripped native understorey, eroded soils, and slowed natural regeneration. Accelerated erosion and sedimentation into rivers and estuaries during rainfall results in degraded catchments and more severe downstream flooding, impacting infra-structure and aquatic ecosystems.
Raukūmara Pae Maunga leads one of New Zealand’s most advanced, large-scale deer and goat management programmes. Pioneering innovation through the use of thermal imaging and DNA-based surveys to accurately assess deer density and improve precision management, RPM is implementing a targeted, humane, and scientifically grounded approach to restore ecological balance across the Eastern region.
All field operations are carried out by trained and certified professionals who maintain high standards of safety, animal welfare, and environmental integrity. Through this coordinated effort, RPM is setting a new benchmark for landscape-scale pest management and contributing to the long-term restoration and resilience of the Raukūmara forest.
MEASURING OUTCOMES
Understanding what the forest needs:
To support a healthy forest we need to understand how it’s responding to our work. Tools such as the Seedling Ratio Index (SRI) and Deer DNA density survey, turn the complex processes of regeneration into measurable information.
Across Aotearoa, native forests continue to face significant challenges from over-browsing caused by Deer and Goats, which limits the recovery of many indigenous plant species and destroys the entire understory.
Here in the Raukūmara, we’re tracking changes in plant growth, species presence and browsing impact to understand how the forest is responding. The data we gather guides how, and where we focus our efforts. This ensures our ungulate control is targeted, informed and effective in supporting forest recovery.
As we develop our monitoring regime, our survey results are showing that Deer densities in the surveyed areas are three to five times higher than what the forest may be able to tolerate, meaning the environment will continue to degrade unless Deer numbers are reduced significantly and being culled faster than they can breed.
