A British duke sent six Himalayan tahr to New Zealand in 1904; five survived the voyage, and...

The Himalayan tahr is a large, shaggy mountain ungulate native to the Himalayas that has become an invasive species in New Zealand. In 1904, a gift from a British aristocrat brought a handful of shaggy mountain goats to the remote peaks of New Zealand’s South Island. The aim was to build up big game stocks for visiting sport hunters. But those few animals started an environmental problem that still worries conservationists and land managers today. The animal at the centre of the issue is the Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), a strong mountain animal native to the highlands of Asia. In its native range, the species is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). But across New Zealand’s Southern Alps, thousands of miles away, the tahr has multiplied so successfully that it is now treated as an invasive pest.A royal gift takes rootThe story began when the 11th Duke of Bedford sent six tahr from his Woburn Abbey estate in Bedfordshire, England, to the New Zealand government. The shipment was meant to create new hunting opportunities for English settlers and visiting tourists. During the difficult sea journey, one animal jumped overboard...