Russell Forest Sika eradication
Sika deer were illegally released in Russell Forest in 1988 by a group of individuals who were believed to have been intending to gain commercial profit from these game animals. Over the years, a number of containment operations by DOC helped to keep this herd controlled.
Building on these efforts, and working in partnership with whanau/hapū/iwi, the Russell Forest Sika Eradication project officially launched in April 2024 – to remove all remaining populations for good within its 5000-hectare project area.
This is the only known population of sika deer in Northland.
From the launch in April 2024 to December 2025, 65 sika deer were removed from this project area. Two deer previously identified through scat (faeces) DNA sampling remain unaccounted for, with the most recent samples from these individuals found in September 2024 and April 2025 respectively. Intensive monitoring and grid searching since then (using thermal drones, scat and indicator dogs, and trail cameras) have so far found no presence of the two (or any new sika deer).
For landowners in the project area who have opted in, additional ungulate control has been carried out, resulting in the removal of more than 500 feral goats and 300 feral pigs.
All recoverable meat has been distributed to landowners, the local community and hapū/iwi.
No toxins have been used as part of this operation.
Russell Forest is a diverse native ngahere (forest). It is Northland’s largest inland forest and scrubland area of the eastern landscape and an important example of a warm temperate rainforest in the region, containing kauri, tawa, kōtukutuku/tree fuchsia, and totara along with threatened bird species, including the North Island brown kiwi.
Sika deer in Russell Forest captured on a Northland Regional Council trailcam.
Deer eradication contractors in Russell Forest
All recoverable meat has been distributed in the surrounding area - this is Waikare School's Matariki event in 2025
What’s happening now?
The validation phase, to confirm that the deer have been successfully removed from this project area, uses separate contractors and began in March 2026, and is expected to run to the end of the year. The data will then be peer reviewed by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and reported to NRC.