Confusion over tahr cull start

A plan to cull thousands of Himalayan Tahr from South Island mountains will go ahead but it’s unclear when it will commence.

The Department of Conservation announced plans to cull up to 17,500 tahr on September 14 as it attempts to get the population, estimated at 35,000, down to the Himalayan Tahr Management Plan’s target of 10,000 on conservation land.

Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage confirmed in a statement to Stuff yesterday that the control operation was proceeding despite claims from National conservation spokesperson Sarah Dowie that it has been delayed.

Dowie claimed: ‘‘The minister is arming DOC rangers with guns and chartering helicopters as we speak.

‘‘The cull starts Sunday. It must be stopped.’’

Speaking to Stuff yesterday, Sage said an email was sent to stakeholders in the Tahr Liaison Group which referred to a date in September at which time the cull would start.

‘‘It’s operational requirements that will dictate when it actually starts.

‘‘We’re not talking about eradication here, we’re talking about a controlled operation.

‘‘My understanding is, no, there’s not going to be any control work done this weekend, but there is a commitment to doing the controlled operation before tahr start breeding.’’

Stuff questioned Sage whether the cull was originally planned to start this weekend.

‘‘That’s an operational detail that Andy Roberts in the Canterbury [DOC] office would be across,’’ she said.

Sage said she would meet the Tahr Liaison Group next week to discuss the finer details and the summer control operation would proceed as planned after that.

‘‘It is nonsense to suggest otherwise,’’ she said.

‘‘The control operation of tahr is proceeding as planned. The plan has always been to start before the Himalayan tahr breeding season starts and there is a further increase in the tahr population and DOC is on track for that.’’

Dowie believed Sage was forced to postpone the cull because of ‘‘huge pressure’’ from the recreational hunting and tourism industry.

A petition she started to stop the cull has been signed by nearly 23,000 people.

‘‘While National supports managing tahr numbers the minister has no excuses for not adequately consulting with the hunting industry and recreational hunters.

‘‘The hunting sector is advocating a responsible plan to manage tahr numbers rather than the slaughter of tens of thousands of animals.’’

Sage said the petition was ‘‘absurd’’.

‘‘Despite the international importance of New Zealand’s alpine plants, many of which are only found here in Aotearoa, the Department of Conservation was starved of funding and tahr numbers were allowed to explode.

‘‘I am taking the necessary steps to fix the damage done, and making decisions that protect our biodiversity and beautiful indigenous plants.’’

‘‘It’s operational requirements that will dictate when it actually starts.’’ Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage