OPINION: Good news for hunters as Forest & Bird have "paused" legal action against the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation and agreed conservation work can continue without the extermination of wapiti.
The legal action was an own goal in the first place.
For 13 years, DOC worked with the Foundation, letting hunters pay for ballot access to hunt this prized species, providing population management of an introduced species for free.
So could this signal a change in attitude from the normally litigious F&B?
We can only hope, but the Hound isn't holding his breath.
F&B have taken legal action against government numerous times: opposing amendments to consenting pathways for wetlands; suing over fisheries catch limits; blocking mining initiatives.
Let's hope the sensible decision over Wapiti will hold and F&B will keep their well-paid lawyers on a leash for once.