Deer Wars tells the story of the 50 year struggle to control New Zealand's red deer population. Numbering in the millions, the deer were causing serious, escalating damage in the backcountry.
Photo: RNZ / Robert Whitaker and Zhenya Nagornaya
Photo: Supplied by Paul Roy
The estimated two million deer shot by ground cullers made little impact. It took the arrival of helicopters with deadly shooters onboard and then a dramatic switch to live capture to get the numbers down.
Each period brought its challenges - from isolation, food shortages, and a lack of huts, bridges or communications for the ground cullers, to the daring and dangerous efforts to shoot deer from the air.
The risks were huge, it was all learning on the job and resulted in many crashes and accidents, deaths and injuries. The move to live capture doubled the danger and risk but also the profits.
This nine-part podcast series shares the unique and compelling story told by those who lived it.
Follow Deer Wars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can hear it on Sunday mornings after 7am on RNZ National from Sunday 22 October.
Written and presented by Paul Roy.
Sound engineer - Alex Harmer.
Additional sound engineering - Jeremy Ansell and William Saunders.
Executive producers - Katy Gosset, Justin Gregory and Tim Watkin.
Deer Wars is made with the support of a Ngā Kōrero Tuku Iho, Piki Ake! Kake Ake! New Zealand Oral History Grant from Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage to Iguana Productions.
