For the first time the Department of Conservation (DOC) will be providing opportunities for hunters to gain air-access to the Hooker/Landsborough Wilderness Area, Adams Wilderness area and nine sites in Westland Tai Poutini National Park early in 2019.

There will be four hunting periods running from Saturday 5 January 2019 to Friday 1 February 2019 which hunters can apply for.

This summer opportunity has come about for the same reasons the winter tahr ballot was developed – so that hunters have the opportunity to contribute to the management of the Himalayan tahr population.

DOC South Westland Operations Manager Wayne Costello says recent monitoring has shown the tahr population on public conservation land to be beyond the parameters set in the Himalayan Tahr Control Plan (1993).

“A reduction in herd size is required and hunters can play a very important role in this,” says Wayne Costello.

DOC monitoring estimates the Himalayan tahr population on public conservation land alone - not including Crown pastoral leases and private land - totals more than 35,000 animals.

Heavy browsing and trampling by mobs of tahr damages, and can potentially wipe out, the native plants they feed on, including tall tussocks and iconic species like the Aoraki/Mt Cook buttercup.

Hunters are being encouraged to fill in and return hunting diaries.

“The information gained from these summer hunting opportunities help to show the value of recreational hunting in terms of herd management,” says Wayne Costello.

If summer aerial access to these areas is well utilised and successful, there will be ongoing consultation with external stakeholders on how best to implement this opportunity in the future.

Online applications will be opened on a first in first served basis on the 5th of November at 9am. More information is available on the DOC Website summer tahr hunting page www.doc.govt.nz/summer-tahr

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