A tahr hunter who pretends not to care about the politics is not paying attention. The politics shapes every season's hunting.
The ecological case. Tahr are heavy browsers of palatable alpine plants. Long-running DOC monitoring shows that snow tussock height declines where tahr densities are high. Several iconic alpine herbs — the Mount Cook lily, the alpine carrots, several alpine buttercups — are at threatened status partly because of tahr browsing pressure. Vegetation loss has knock-on effects on alpine wildlife, kea and rock wren among them.
The hunting case. New Zealand is the only place outside the Himalayas with a sustainable wild population of Himalayan tahr. The species is Near Threatened in its native range. The NZ herd is a globally unique resource. Recreational hunting, guided trophy hunting and guided culling all generate significant economic activity and meet a real conservation need by removing nannies and juveniles in the right blocks.
The plan. The 1993 Himalayan Tahr Control Plan, never reviewed, sets a maximum population of 10,000 across the feral range. The current population, by DOC's own most recent surveys, sits around 30,000 — well above the plan's ceiling. DOC runs an annual aerial control plan (the TCOP) targeting females and juveniles in most management units and all tahr inside the national parks.
The fight. In 2018 the then-Minister of Conservation approved a cull of bulls inside the national parks and a substantial increase in flying hours generally. Hunters mobilised. The NZ Tahr Foundation took DOC to court. Justice Dobson found the consultation process unlawful in 2020 and halved the approved flying hours. The substantive policy was not overturned.
The ongoing argument. Forest & Bird and the NZ Conservation Authority push for stricter enforcement, particularly inside the parks. The NZ Deerstalkers Association, NZ Tahr Foundation and the NZ Professional Hunting Guides Association push for a rewrite of the 1993 plan, formal Herd of Special Interest designation, and management for sustainable hunting alongside vegetation protection. DOC sits in the middle, with statutory obligations on both sides.
The hunter's code. A short version of what most reputable hunters and operators stand by:
- Take mature bulls. Pass young animals.
- Don't shoot nannies during the rut. Bulls are with them.
- Don't shoot kids.
- Don't shoot from helicopters. The helicopter is transport.
- Don't shoot a bull who, if hit, will roll into ground you cannot reach.
- One ethical shot. Backup ready immediately.
- Carry out what you reasonably can — meat, brass, rubbish.
- Respect the quiet of the valley. Don't fly into a basin where a foot party is hunting.
- Submit your hunting diary if you are in a ballot block.
- If you are a guest, leave the country better than you found it.
The politics of tahr will not be settled in your lifetime or mine. Hunt well. Do the right thing. Report what you see.