The New Zealand Deerstalkers Association Inc (NZDA) is supportive of the Tahr Foundation’s application for a High Court injunction to stop the Department of Conservation’s move to extensively cull Himalayan tahr and hopes it will mean that DOC will come back to the table and be willing to listen to the hunting sector's genuine concerns.

The Tahr Foundation has announced it filed an injunction in the High Court at Wellington on Friday, 26th 2020.

Under a new tahr cull operational plan due to come into effect on 1 July, the Department is proposing to triple the number of helicopter hours to kill tahr, remove any agreed number of tahr to be killed, and target all mature males in national parks. Previous tahr control plans, supported by hunters and NZDA, have only targeted female and juvenile tahr and so acknowledged the recreational and economic value of bull tahr to our hunting community.

NZDA Chief Executive Gwyn Thurlow says "DOC's rushed process this year and lack of its usual consultation seems to have backed the Tahr Foundation into a corner and left the Foundation with no option but to take legal steps in order to be heard. The draft plan is a slap in the face for hunters and threatens the future of tahr. The draft plan NZDA was given did not acknowledge or address the expectations of hunters which had been set by DOC over the preceding few years, particularly because DOC worked together with organisations to reach consensus on operational plans."

“The NZDA and other hunting organisations are willing and happy to work with DOC to produce good tahr herd management plans,” Gwyn Thurlow says.

Gwyn Thurlow says hunters and hunting organisations are key stakeholders in managing tahr populations.

“We deserve to be properly consulted and our suggestions carefully considered,” he says.

“We have a good track record on working constructively to produce good workable plans that have seen tahr populations reduced by more than twelve thousand animals in two years.

“The present proposal ignores the hunting sector and the drive for extermination will alienate tens of thousands of New Zealanders. With an election only a couple of months away, DOC’s strategy doesn’t seem to be very well thought out.
 

“Our organisation and its members place high value on tahr as a game animal – proposing to wipe out large numbers of such a special and valued species could well influence many hunters’ votes at the election.”
 

When NZDA was asked by DOC for input on the next operational plan, NZDA put forward the following advice:
 

• This coming year DOC should monitor the result of last year's cull.
• NZDA would like to see a research based and scientific lead approach.
• DOC should focus solely on the exclusion zone and buffer zone this year as presently the absolute focus should be to limit tahr to their feral range.
• The future plan must state no bulls should be targeted, including in national parks given the value of bulls and well understood big game management principles.
• In the national parks, hunters must be given the first opportunity to hunt areas that DOC want to carry out Official control.
• Where Official control is to be carried out, DOC should aim to reduce conflict with hunters and pubic and control unaccessible areas.
• Research and review of the outcome of last year’s cull is essential before any plan can be verified as effective and meeting the needs of all stakeholders.
• Commercial hunting and recreational hunting will now control tahr numbers of many areas.
• Official control around areas popular by hunters (recreational and commercial) should be avoided in culls.

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