THAR AND CHAMOIS

Taranaki Daily News, 11 August 1930, Page 3

THAR AND CHAMOIS

PLENTIFUL AT- MOUNT- COOK. REPORTS BY MOUNTAINEERS. - The sight of a single- chamois leaping up a steep gully at the-side of the Tasman Valley, in the Mount Cook region, caused considerable excitement among a party that was on its way to the Ball Hut for ski-ing • recently. • Their excitement was capped, however, when another party, on its way up the Hooker Valley, saw two herds of chamois, one of about. ten and the other of fifteen, climbing the shale’ slopes at the. (junction of the Mueller and. Hooker Valleys. The chamois were first seen at a dis-, tance of about 890 yards; but they soon took fright, and commenced climbing up the apparently impossible face in single file. From tracks seen on the floor of the valley it was apparent that these same animals had passed that way just before the advent of ’ the party, and this at a spot not over two miles , above the Hermitage. The guides stated that large numbers, of both thar and chamois were to be seen all over the area round the hermitage, but they had noticed little damage being done to the vegetation. Thar seemed to be confined to the Mueller and Hooker Valleys, very few being seen on the Tasman side. Chamois were everywhere. There seemed to be particular levels to which each was mostly confined/. ' < The chamois has a range of from 3900 to 8900 ft., 'while; the thar were usually seen at levels‘between 5000 and. 6000 ft. Chamois had been seen wandering about far above 6090ft.' in places where there was no - vegetation at. all, but merely thick ice and a thin, coating of snow. They were often to be seen standing on the ridges at sundown. -; j The thar had a disagreeable habit, however, of kicking stones down on to any people who happened to be passing beneath them. Several times when climbing in .the Sealey Range mountaineers have had occasion to stop because of stones that fell near them, and they had found that the stones had come from a bluff above, where that could be seen watching the party. This had happened too often for the presence of the thar and the falling of the stones to be a mere coincidence. Although this has been an open season for shooting both thar and chamois, not very many have been shot in t-he Hermitage region. This has been due, not to any scarcity of the game, but to the fact that they keep to such levels that considerable preparations . have been necessary to get near them. Three have been shot by different hunters iu the past few weeks.