Inventing a New Industry

Deer are the first new animals to be domesticated for over 5,000 years. The large scale commercial farming of deer started in New Zealand, and New Zealand remains the world's largest and most advanced deer farming industry.

Deer are not native to New Zealand. The first deer were brought here from England and Scotland for sport in the mid-late 19th Century, and released mainly in the Southern Alps and foothills. The environment proved ideal and feral populations grew uncontrolled.  By the middle of the 20th Century feral deer were regarded as a pest because of their impact on the environment and native forests.

The export of venison from feral deer started in the 1960s, turning a pest into an export earner.  Industry pioneers saw an opportunity to build on this base and in the early 1970s started capturing live deer from the wild and farming them. A new industry was born and rapidly spread throughout New Zealand.