Hunting deer and pigs holds a "special place" in New Zealand culture because it is mainly done by men, says a discussion paper on whether feral pests should be considered an economic resource.

"It facilitates group bonding (especially between fathers and sons) and providing game for the table generates self-esteem and earns approval," said the paper, released yesterday.

Many Maori regarded feral pigs as replacing traditional wild foods which can no longer be harvested.

An independent panel appointed by Conservation Minister Chris Carter is exploring future management of feral deer, chamois, tahr and pigs.

There were also heritage benefits because the hunting of these animals had become an iconic part of the nation's history, the paper said.

Government deer cullers had established the network of back-country tracks and huts and the deer-culling era had also created the "good keen man", part of NZ's popular culture.

Unrestricted year-round access to big-game hunting became part of NZ culture after World War 2 and now about 7 percent of men rate hunting and shooting as one of their favourite activities. A survey done in 1988 which showed there were 50,00 big game hunters - 40,000 of them hunting deer - but one third did not kill any animals, and most of the others killed fewer than three animals a year.

The goal of exterminating deer on the mainland was recognised as infeasible by the 1950s, and dropped in favour of sustained control to keep numbers low in the areas at greatest risk of damage.

Responsibility for deer control was transferred to the NZ Forest Service under the Noxious Animals Act 1956, and in 1977 the Wild Animal Control Act allowed for eight recreational hunting areas. But hunting-focused management was largely abandoned after the formation of the Department of Conservation in 1987 gave primacy to native wildlife.

At that time commercial hunting of deer was booming but it collapsed in the early 1990s and only 5843 feral deer carcasses were handled by four processors in the year to June 2007. In comparison, recreational hunters annually kill an estimated 99,000 pigs, 55,000 deer, 1900 chamois and 750 tahr.

DOC has a focus on eradicating "new" populations of pigs and deer spreading through natural range extension, escape from deer farms and deliberate illegal releases, and has culled isolated populations in Northland and Taranaki.

But it also controls deer on about 1 percent of the conservation estate, in vulnerable areas, though near-total removal of the pests is necessary to protect palatable native plant species such as broadleaf, mahoe, five-finger, pate and kamahi, the paper said.

In some cases, where unpalatable species such as rimu have become dominant, reversal of the imbalance will take centuries.

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