The New Caledonian government is considering plans that would allow for the export of deer shot in the wild as part of efforts to curb the deer population.
Noumea's daily newspaper says culls of up to 100,000 deer a year are being considered.
It says such a volume of game would be in excess of what the local market can absorb and therefore plans are to be drawn up to explore export opportunities.
So far, only deer raised in captivity are allowed to be sold overseas.
Currently, about 40,000 animals are shot but this has failed to reduce their numbers.
