Reward offered for Rotorua deer killers

A $2000 reward to catch the butchers has been offered by the Agrodome and Rotorua A&P Society. Photo / Rotorua Daily Post

A top Rotorua tourist attraction is offering a reward to catch the killers of two of its prized tame deer.

Two weeks ago someone cut through a farm fence at the Agrodome and slit the throat of seven-year-old hind Pepsi with a machete, butchering the animal and taking the meat with them.

The same people are believed to have cut through another fence and shot the attraction's top breeding stag, Branson.

They again took the meat and left the head "mounted on top of a tree stump like a trophy for children and other visitors to see", Agrodome managing director Warren Harford said.

He said the two tame deer were treated by Agrodome staff as pets and they were seen by about 70,000 people a year.

Agrodome operations manager Steve Whyte said staff had been inundated with calls from the public offering their condolences, or to replace the deer with their own pets.

"We can't take any animals because these guys are still out there and could come back for more."

A $2000 reward to catch the butchers has been offered by the Agrodome and Rotorua A&P Society.

- NZPA