Our Wapiti Stud
Our Wapiti Stud was established in 1984 with the importation of our foundation sire “Reginald” from Clearstone Farm in Canada.
A share in Blue 116, when Sir Tim Wallis sold him, was a big boost to our stud in the 1990’s. Blue 116 also an import from North America is thought to have originated from Yellowstone National Park.
Further genetic input has been by annual use of AI using the best genetics available from North America with bulls such as REED, Revolution and Manitoba Weapon. The advent of CWD in North America saw a complete embargo of any genetic material from there by 1998.
Tikana became home to our Wapiti stud when we purchased this 35 hectare property in Browns, Central Southland in 1995.
Selected genetics within New Zealand have been sourced from Littlebourne Wapiti, Taringatura Park, Mayfield Elk, Ashley River Deer and Edendale Station.
All our deer are tissue sampled for DNA typing. This allows for gBreed analysis which provides us with an average genotype for the herd - 87% elk, 10% red deer and 3% eastern red deer.
Our breeding programme has used selection based on velvet, growth and meat yield. Utilising DeerSelect has greatly enhanced our progress for these traits. In recent years we have been saliva testing our weaners to test for CARLA to select for parasite tolerance/resistance.
A share in Blue 116, when Sir Tim Wallis sold him, was a big boost to our stud in the 1990’s. Blue 116 also an import from North America is thought to have originated from Yellowstone National Park.
Further genetic input has been by annual use of AI using the best genetics available from North America with bulls such as REED, Revolution and Manitoba Weapon. The advent of CWD in North America saw a complete embargo of any genetic material from there by 1998.
Tikana became home to our Wapiti stud when we purchased this 35 hectare property in Browns, Central Southland in 1995.
Selected genetics within New Zealand have been sourced from Littlebourne Wapiti, Taringatura Park, Mayfield Elk, Ashley River Deer and Edendale Station.
All our deer are tissue sampled for DNA typing. This allows for gBreed analysis which provides us with an average genotype for the herd - 87% elk, 10% red deer and 3% eastern red deer.
Our breeding programme has used selection based on velvet, growth and meat yield. Utilising DeerSelect has greatly enhanced our progress for these traits. In recent years we have been saliva testing our weaners to test for CARLA to select for parasite tolerance/resistance.