Venison is on the menu for New Zealand families in need — an annual deer cull in Fiordland will provide meat for foodbanks.
The deer cull in Fiordland National Park will this year provide 18,000kg of venison to New Zealand foodbanks and families in need.
Fiordland Wapiti Foundation typically would remove up to 1000 animals during the cull, and this year partnered with Game Animal Council and the Department of Conservation (Doc) for the initiative.
Fiordland Wapiti Foundation president Roy Sloan said that, weather permitting, by the end of July 600 deer from Fiordland National Park would be removed for processing into 18,000 1kg wild venison mince packets.
"These are being distributed by a charitable supply chain distributor to foodbanks throughout the country. This will feed thousands of New Zealand families in need.''