Helicopter firm pulls out of tahr cull project

Photo: Department of Conservation
Photo: Department of Conservation
While a leading conservation authority is backing the Department of Conservation’s controversial tahr-culling operations, disdain is being shown to helicopter firms assisting the cull.

The New Zealand Conservation Authority has issued a statement saying it had a "duty" to bring to light the ecological imperative to immediately control tahr populations in the Aoraki/Mt Cook and Westland Tai Poutini National Parks.

Authority chairman Edward Ellison said national parks provided a "safe haven" for native species, and the Department of Conservation had "not only a moral, but a legal obligation" to ensure that protection was robust.

The grazing behaviour of tahr damaged many native plants, some classed as threatened and nationally endangered, he said.

"The current situation with Covid-19 continues to require significant restrictions on New Zealand’s borders ... when this industry is able to restart, there will still be bull tahr to hunt across at least 558,000ha of New Zealand, outside of the national parks, which comprise just 21% of the tahr feral range," Mr Ellison said.

The NZ Tahr Foundation was quick to respond, saying that Mr Ellison’s comments implying tahr hunting was a niche tourism industry were highly inaccurate.

Foundation spokesman Willie Duley said tahr meant a lot to tens of thousands of New Zealanders.

"All stakeholders agree Doc has never undertaken the research and monitoring of vegetation impacts and herd densities necessary to inform the appropriate management of tahr.

"This needs to be done as part of a thorough review of the out-of-date 1993 Himalayan tahr control plan so we can put this almost-annual conflict behind us."

Stuff reported this week that Doc operations director Ben Reddiex confirmed helicopter pilots assisting in the cull had received threats. Those threats had been reported to the police.

In a social media post, Alpine Helicopters said it had made a "conscious decision" to discontinue involvement with aerial tahr control initiatives which sought to achieve zero densities.

A company spokesman would not confirm last night whether it had received any threats, but the post, which was signed off by Toby and Jonathan Wallis, said:

"We accept there are wideranging views towards aerial tahr control operations. We also acknowledge that the objective of moving towards zero densities or lowest practicable densities of tahr within Aoraki/Mount Cook and Westland Tai Poutini National Parks has become highly controversial to some."

The post said there was a need for continued control, "but we have never supported extermination of either deer or tahr. Not just because of a vested interest but because of an underlying belief that our collective efforts would lead to an acceptable balance of environmental, recreational, and economic considerations."

kerrie.waterworth@odt.co.nz


 

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