← THE TAHR HANDBOOKAPPENDIX2 MIN READ

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

The research behind this handbook draws on the following bodies of work. Anyone planning a hunt should read at least the first three.

New Zealand government and agency sources

  • Department of Conservation — tahr hunting hub, current Tahr Control Operational Plan, hunting permits, visitor information, distress beacons, ballot rules.
  • Game Animal Council — Management Unit overviews, hunter-led management projects, Herd of Special Interest framework.
  • Firearms Safety Authority — Visitor Firearms Licence application portal and the NZ Firearms Safety Code.
  • NZ Police — firearms import permits, on-arrival verification.
  • Ministry for Primary Industries — biosecurity for inbound hunters.
  • New Zealand Avalanche Advisory — winter alpine avalanche bulletins.
  • MetService Mountain Forecasts and YR.no — alpine weather modelling.

Hunter and industry organisations

  • New Zealand Deerstalkers Association — Douglas Score reference, the field aging guide for bull tahr, hunter-conduct material.
  • NZ Tahr Foundation — historical context, judicial review documents, conservation framing from the hunter side.
  • NZ Professional Hunting Guides Association — code of conduct for guided hunting.
  • Safari Club International — international scoring records and hunter advocacy material.

Reference works

  • The Mammals of New Zealand (NZ Geographic and the various editions of the King-Atkinson handbook).
  • DOC's long-term tussock and alpine flora monitoring reports.
  • NZ Tahr Foundation v Minister of Conservation [2020] NZHC 1669 — the judicial review judgment, in full.

Outfitter sources

  • The detailed area write-ups published by various Canterbury and West Coast outfitters — useful for catchment colour and trophy-size benchmarks, with the caveat that outfitter copy is marketing copy.

This handbook synthesises and rewrites material drawn from these sources. Where sources disagree on numbers (initial release count, population estimates, rut timing) the handbook has chosen the most defensible reading and flagged the disagreement in passing where relevant.

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