Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said the initial plan was to cull 6000 animals before mid-November to reduce summer grazing pressure of alpine plants, part of plans to eventually remove 10,000 animals by August next year.
The cull will pause from November till February because aerial control is more efficient from late summer to mid-winter but it will also allow the plan to be reviewed.
“Then DOC will assess what further action is needed to reach the 10,000-animal target by August 2019 in consultation with the Tahr Liaison Group,” she said.
The latest plan was a compromise after hunters resisted a DOC proposal to cull 17,500 tahr. Hunters said they were not consulted, the plan was hastily conceived and lacked scientific rigour with population estimates of between 17,500 and 55,000.
DOC has concluded the tahr population is about 35,000 on public conservation land alone, not including pastoral lease or private land,
“To be very clear though, there is absolutely no plan to eradicate tahr completely,” Sage said.
“Even after this control work is done there will still be thousands of tahr available for guided Himalayan tahr hunting and hunting tourist ventures.”
The Tahr Control Operational Plan was developed by the Tahr Liaison Group, which includes commercial hunters, wild animal recovery groups, conservationists, trampers and hunters.
From Thursday DOC targeted female and juvenile tahr in national parks, the South West New Zealand World Heritage Area, exclusion zones to the northern and southern boundaries of their feral range, adjacent feeder valleys and less accessible country.
Hunters will target all tahr and wild animal recovery operation concession holders will remove the carcases and capture live tahr for approved game parks on private land.
