When most people think of elk, they picture the wide-open ranges of the American West, not exactly the misty mountains of New Zealand. And yet deep in the forests and valleys of the South Island, massive elk (called wapiti there) roam freely, descendants of animals brought from North America over a century ago.
These towering creatures, with antlers stretching wider than a man is tall, have become one of New Zealand’s most fascinating and elusive big-game animals.
How Elk Arrived in New Zealand
Elk were introduced to Fiordland National Park in 1905, a gift from U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to New Zealand. The Roosevelt elk were shipped from Yellowstone National Park to establish a new population in the remote, mountainous terrain of Fiordland’s southwest coast. The rugged wilderness suited them perfectly. Over time, though, the elk began interbreeding with red deer, another imported species already thriving across New Zealand.
This natural crossbreeding created a unique hybrid, larger than red deer but smaller than true North American elk, that now dominates Fiordland’s herds.
Today, the Fiordland wapiti area covers about 250,000 hectares of pristine wilderness… steep mountains, thick rainforest, and deep fjords where weather can change by the minute. Access is difficult; most hunters and wildlife photographers reach the region only by helicopter or multi-day hike.
Because of its isolation, Fiordland remains one of the few places on Earth where big game animals live in truly wild conditions, without fences or feeding. The elk-red deer hybrids that roam there are incredibly hardy, navigating cliffs, dense bush, and high-altitude meadows that test even the most experienced outdoorsmen.
Hunting & Conservation
Elk hunting in New Zealand is strictly managed by the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation (FWF), a conservation organization that balances trophy hunting with habitat protection. Only a limited number of hunters are selected each year through a ballot system, ensuring sustainable management of the herd. The FWF also conducts pest control and habitat restoration, removing invasive species and helping native wildlife thrive. The result is a rare conservation success story… a non-native species managed in a way that supports both ecology and recreation.
Each fall, during the rut (March and April in New Zealand’s Southern Hemisphere), Fiordland echoes with the deep, haunting bugles of bulls challenging rivals for dominance. It’s a sound that would be right at home in the Rockies.
However… sometimes, you don’t need to do much hunting. Sometimes… an elk just falls in your lap.
A hunter was able to capture this jaw-dropping ordeal on video while out hunting in the back country of New Zealand. The footage opens with a bull elk successfully navigating his way across the waterfall as the hunter makes some noise to imitate another bull ready to spare over potential mates. Despite a few slips, falls, bumps, and bruises, the first elk appears to be in good health.
Unfortunately, the second elk that comes flying into the picture while accidentally cascading down the waterfall did not survive the tumble.
While pretty horrifying this video also serves as a reminder that nature is BRUTAL. Hunters, starvation, predators, disease… even a misstep down a waterfall… survival is HARD in the wilderness of New Zealand. Survival is hard in the wilderness just about anywhere.
They say don’t go chasing waterfalls…. to be honest, I’m not exactly sure what that means, but it seems like solid advice. Plus, it comes from TLC, the same band that brought us the legendary jam “No Scrubs,” and if there has been better advice brought forth via song, I don’t think I’ve heard it.
However for this elk, perhaps the song should read a little more like, “don’t go tumbling to your death down massive waterfalls.” This particular elk should have stuck to the rivers and lakes that it was used too, but instead it tried to cross a slippery precipice coated in fast moving water and it wound up tumbling to its demise.
Here’s the explanation from the man who captured the video:
