Game Animals
All the major game animals you can hunt in New Zealand. Click any species for a detailed guide.
What counts as a “game animal”? Under the Game Animals Act 1997, the term covers deer, Himalayan tahr, chamois, and wild pigs. Wild goats and wallaby are legally classed as pests rather than game animals — but they are still widely and legitimately hunted, so we cover them here too.
Chamois
Rupicapra rupicapra
Fallow Deer
Dama dama
Red Deer
Cervus elaphus scoticus
Rusa Deer
Cervus timorensis
Sambar Deer
Cervus unicolor unicolor
Sika Deer
Cervus nippon
Himalayan Tahr
Hemitragus jemlahicus
Wallaby
Macropus rufogriseus, Notamacropus eugenii, Notamacropus parma
Wapiti (Elk)
Cervus canadensis nelsoni
White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus borealis
Wild Goat
Capra hircus
Wild Pig
Sus scrofa