Almost all the tahrs on Table Mountain have now been killed, South African National Parks chief executive David Mabunda announced on Thursday.
”With 109 Himalayan tahrs removed we estimate that the operation is 95% complete,” said Mabunda.
”Given the onset of winter rains SANparks will now begin winding down the operations.”
SANparks marksmen began the controversial cull in mid-May, in order to clear an ecological niche for the re-establishment of indigenous buck such as klipspringer, which have become locally extinct on the mountain.
Some animal lovers expressed outrage at the culling decision, which followed the conclusion of a court challenge by the Friends of the Tahr organisation.
However several conservation bodies expressed support.
Mabunda said the operation, monitored by the National Council of SPCAs, was carried out ”in the most humane way possible under these circumstances”.
SANparks has up to now kept a tight-lipped silence on the progress of the culling operation.
Police are still investigating tahr-related death threats phoned to the manager of the Table Mountain National Park, Brett Myrdal. – Sapa