Thar cull proposal strongly criticised

Press, 17 July 1979, Page 14

Thar cull proposal strongly criticised

Christchurch deerstalkers are angry about a Forest Service proposal to make additional reductions in the high-country thar population. Forest Service staff made a survey of the thar population during the summer and are concerned about the numbers.

“In some places there are certainly too many for the vegetation to stand,” said the senior ranger in Christchurch (Mr R. Forsyth). The Forest Service hopes to reduce the numbers of thar by persuading high country runholders to encourage commercial game hunters. If they fail to do this, the Forest Service will have to consider killing the thar itself, probably next year. However, the head of the North Canterbury branch of the Deerstalkers’ Association (Mr W. H. Carter) believes that the Forest Service is going too far. “Its approach is that the

only good Indian is a dead one,” he said. Thar numbers had fallen drastically, possibly down to 10 per cent of the population in 1970, after a killing programme by the Forest Service and heavy

commercial exploitation, said Mr Carter. Recreational hunters were being forced to take the whole impact of “preservationist” programmes for high-country class seven and eight land, he said. The thar population could be kept at an acceptable level; it was not necessary to wipe the animals out. “The Forest Service usually has a realistic attitude, but the national park authorities and the catchment boards are unreasonable,” Mr Carter said. National Parks Authority policy on introduced animals is that as far as possible they should be exterminated. This policy has been adopted by ail national park boards, except in the Fiordland National Park, where a wapiti herd within the park boundaries is tolerated. Catchment boards have a similar policy where the animal concerned can be shown to be damaging vegetation. On class eight and eroded class seven high-country land, the

North Canterbury Catchment Board has a policy of discouraging all animals.

Mr Forsyth said that thar numbers had fallen since the early 19705. It was not unusual then to see herds of up to 150, but a big herd was now likely to be no more than 30, he said. Thar had also become more cunning, and few amateur hunters would have a chance of seeing them. Even the professionals found them more difficult to hunt.

Figures supplied by the Forest Research Institute show that in some years durifig the mid 1970 s as many as 10,000 thar were killed each year, mostly by commercial hunters. The estimate of the present thar population is between 4000 and 8000. but the estimate is an “educated guess” based on yields. Pressure on the thar eased during the last two years when snow, price, and thar numbers made hunting Jess viable, according to the institute.