feeding habits

Fallow deer did not prefer either of the two main canopy species (silver beech, Nothofagus menziesii, and radiata pine, Pinus radiata), or any of the common indigenous shrubs, ferns, herbs and monocotyledons in three habitat types (beech, shrub-hardwood, and exotic forest). They did prefer all the common sub canopy tree species, and these comprised the bulk of diet in all habitats. Broadleaf (Griselinia littoralis) was the most important single food, with litterfall being its dominant source.

Samples of stomach contents were collected from 104 feral pigs (Sus scrofa) shot in the Urewera Ranges between December 1982 and June 1985. These were sorted into food items which were dried, weighed, and combined to give estimates of their annual and seasonal diets.

The diet and food preferences of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on north-eastern Stewart Island are described from the analysis of 160 samples of rumen contents collected between 1979 and 1985, and vegetation surveys in 1975 and 1976. Deer browsed all the hardwood trees, but few shrubs, ferns, or podocarps. Woody plants comprised 85.1 % (dry weight) of annual diet. Broadleaf (Griselinia littoralis; 34.6%) and supplejack (Ripogonum scandens; 18.6%) were the most important foods, all other species comprising less than 5%.