What New Zealand wild turkey populations and conservation can teach us about our own domestic conservation efforts.
Moonlight beams down on the rocky terrain. Wild turkeys stand on boulders, fenceposts, and other nearby perches. As daybreak nears, symphonies of throaty gobbles cascade through the valleys like currents of water flowing along time-worn channels. For more than 200 years, these birds have serenaded New Zealand’s rising sun, and our very own TFT staff, among others, were there to experience it.
Why Americans Should Care About New Zealand Wild Turkeys
TFT CEO Jason Lupardus says that the first turkeys were introduced to New Zealand by Cortez in the 1800s. Of course, many other birds have been released there over time. Interestingly, all turkeys there are comprised of the Merriam’s subspecies. Populations are doing quite well.
Even so, it begs the question — why should people in the United States care about turkeys in New Zealand?
“TFT was very concerned about turkeys in New Zealand because we are seeing a population that is growing much faster than what we’ve seen here in the United States,” Lupardus said. “TFT wanted more information about that.”
Individuals on the board of tourism for New Zealand reached out to TFT regarding a collaboration. After which, TFT submitted a full proposal to the government of New Zealand for a team of individuals to go there and learn more about what’s going on with turkeys, as well as to drive conservation efforts that might have positive implications for turkeys in the United States.
TFT’s Lupardus, among others, traveled to the South Island in New Zealand and met up with an outfitter.
“We took a really hard assessment of what the turkey populations were doing, and we basically did that free of charge,” Lupardus said. “The outfitter covered the cost for a representative from TFT to be there, plus others to go for us to raise money for conservation efforts.”
While in New Zealand, everyone in attendance quickly realized just how populated turkeys were becoming. Furthermore, they behaved somewhat differently as well, and it’s largely due to a lack of predators within the region.
“Turkey populations were very robust, even though habitat structure looked fairly poor in many areas (due to over-grazing of sheep),” Lupardus said. “Secondly, there are a handful of predators that target turkeys, but the abundance of predators in the locations we were at were relatively low. It was interesting to note that the cover and structure where turkeys want to be happened to be some of the only places where the cover and structure were intact for predators as well.
“You had a lot of species really sharing a smaller defined space,” Lupardus continued. “So, even though we saw that, turkey numbers were still doing fairly well, if not exceeding expectations. Weasels, stoats, feral cats, and long-tail opossums — these are the four major meso-predators we saw that were impactful for turkey numbers. There are a couple of raptors that were present. We even noted a type of harrier picking up eggs out of turkey nest.”
He said the most interesting predator is feral cats, which seem to be much more abundant there than previously realized.
“We even have some documented evidence of cats reaching up onto the roosts that they could reach from the ground,” Lupardus said. “Basically, they would pull their wings and tail feathers down, and they would strip their wings clean of feathers.”
Despite these things, wild turkey numbers continue to strengthen. They’re thriving in ways North American wild turkeys haven’t in a very long time.
“We wanted analytics of what’s working in New Zealand for turkey numbers to be so high,” Lupardus said. “We wanted to try to apply that here in the United States.”
In addition to population dynamics, the team also learned other interesting things. First, that turkeys will roost anywhere, including on top of rocks. According to Lupardus, this is because predator numbers are much lower.
“They were basically roosting only a few feet off the ground, and most birds roosted on fence posts because there are not any native trees down there on the South Island,” Lupardus said.
Of course, that dynamic led to an interesting turkey hunting experience.
Winning the TFT Sweepstakes
David Monson grew up on a small farm in Iowa. He hunted small game, such as rabbits and squirrels. He also hunted pheasants.
He became an orthopedic oncologist, and for the next 40 years, didn’t hunt. Eventually, one of his patients, and their family, re-introduced Monson to the outdoors — more specifically, pheasant hunting. Furthermore, his two nephews, who are from Texas, introduced him to deer and turkey hunting.
Earlier this year, he learned of TFT. Interested in helping with conservation efforts, he made the decision to support the organization.
“I saw the Turkeys for Tomorrow sweepstakes on Instagram,” Monson said. “I was looking at that and saw it was going to be in August, which is a time of the year when there’s really not much to hunt. So, about two hours before the sweepstakes closed, I went ahead and bought some tickets for it.”
Two days later, he got a text from Jason Lupardus indicating he had won the sweepstakes. The trip was set.
Turkey Hunting in New Zealand
The first morning of turkey hunting found Monson in camp with the likes of TFT’s Lupardus, Realtree’s Tyler Jordan, and others. They started the morning hunt in a ground blind.
“You could hear turkeys just gobbling like crazy, even before the sun came up,” Monson said. “There were some roosted on fence posts nearby. When they finally came down, I got my gobbler.
As the turkeys wandered off, Monson and Jordan followed the flock. Later in the morning, he was able to get a second bird.
“These were like huge groups of turkeys — you know, 20, 30, 40 birds,” Monson said.
Interestingly, according to Monson, turkeys in mid-August is like the flock dynamics of late-February birds back here in the states.
“So, they didn’t really respond as much to calling,” he said. “You could call, but they had all these hens around them. So, you had to change your approach. A lot of the time, you had to follow or get ahead of them and cut them off in a travel corridor. When they weren’t in such big groups, you could sometimes successfully call to the gobblers.
“But the back-and-forth communication that we all love to experience in the states was much less common to occur in New Zealand,” he continued. “But again, I think that might have been because we were there at least two or three weeks earlier than the season would’ve opened here in the states.”
Conserving Wild Turkeys Everywhere
Wild turkey conservation matters. It matters abroad, and it matters here at home. Fortunately, TFT is in a position to make strides on both fronts.
“Turkey conservation is important everywhere,” Monson said. “Even though New Zealand isn’t one that has an issue with decreasing numbers, it allows turkey hunters here in the states to have another outlet to enjoy the sport and experience the interactions.”
Additionally, while the turkey is beloved in America, it has a poor reputation in New Zealand. As such, we have the opportunity to change the turkey conservation culture there.
“Turkeys are loved in many places, but there, most people have a huge disrespect for the bird,” Lupardus said. “Culturally, they view turkeys like we might view vultures here in the United States. After having some time to speak with people and educate them, we saw a lot of people changing their minds and thinking more on a conservation perspective than they would have if we were not there.
“Sometimes, God puts us in places where we don’t understand why we should be there,” he continued. “But if we open our mind and our hearts, and give a little bit of knowledge to others, we can see change in things that could help us and others.”
Conservation is a worldwide effort. It takes all of us, and TFT is proud to study the dynamics of wild turkeys in New Zealand, and what it might mean for turkeys at home and abroad.
“Originally, if people in the United States said no, you may not have my birds, and they were not willing to give birds to their neighbors, and to neighboring states, we would not have a huntable population of turkeys in the United States today,” Lupardus continued. “So, we embarked on this trip, and we learned that, if we exercise protocols of trying to help others, even in another country, we might come away with something greater than what we had before.”
Support TFT
Wild turkey populations are on the decline throughout the nation. Established in 2021, TFT is new to the landscape, but it’s driven by highly trained professionals with decades of conservation experience. To support TFT, and the complete body of wild turkey research and conservation it’s leading, become a member today. An adult annual membership is $50, annual team turkey member is $250, and life membership is $2,500. Every dollar counts in the fight for wild turkey preservation.