Chamois Signage

Eurasia Wilds

I see they missed a significant chunk of the species current range off the map - chamois have been introduced to the South Island of New Zealand.

Still, the photos of the animal in its exhibit are great, the enclosure looks well suited to the species and its great to see such a rarely displayed (outside of wild parks in its native range) species on show.

I might be wrong, but I'm guessing the zoo just wanted to show the chamois' native range and that's why New Zealand isn't included.

I agree with you that it's great that the Toronto Zoo has this species, and I think they might be the only place in North America to have chamois on public display. It's too bad though, because they are a very fascinating species, and I spent about 15 minutes today watching the zoo's two chamois running and climbing all over their exhibit.

Its fully understandable, very few zoo's would include that information,but it is an interesting fact. Same with Tahr, which are also found in the South Isalnd, but I've never seen a sign for them (outside NZ) that mentions they have been introduced elsewhere.

Has there been (or is there currently) any effort to eliminate them as an alien species in New Zealand?

They (both Tahr and Chamois) are "controlled" through hunting (sometimes from helicopter) by private and commercial operators. They have also been poisoned with 1080, but I'm not sure if there are current operations of this nature. Complete eradication would not be a goal, given its extreme difficulty and the value of the animals to hunters.