New Zealand's Mountain Monarchs; Himalayan Tahr – KEN TUSTIN Large soft cover with French Flaps

A century ago, a little-known, exotic animal, the Himalayan tahr, was introduced into New Zealand for big-game sporting purposes. From a few releases at Aoraki Mt Cook, tahr are now permanent inhabitants of the sub-alpine zones in the central Southern Alps. Their ecology, lifestyle and unique behaviour, both here and in their homelands, remained largely undocumented. Until now. Ken Tustin was drawn to working with Himalayan tahr: As a hunter, scientist, helicopter pilot and recently as a documentary film-maker. His involvement with tahr spans 45 years. It began as a 19-year-old hunting tahr as scientific specimens for researcher Dr. Graeme Caughley. He then went on to study them himself as a scientist for the Forest Research Institute, covering many aspects of tahr population demography, census, ecology, range use and behaviour; the latter involving a direct observation study, living alone, mid-slope in the Godley Valley in a tiny hut/hide for the best part of two years. Ken's life then changed. A helicopter pilot, based at Wanaka, his second career included work with tahr: Aerial control for the Department of Conservation and tourist hunting for trophies in the Southern Alps, intermingled with long trips overseas. But Ken's special interest in tahr behaviour, inspired early by Dr. George Schaller on a working visit to NZ, remained unfulfilled.

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