Many animals were brought to NZ by European settlers in the 19th century. Some like rats, were brought here by accident on ships while others like stoats were brought to kill rabbits. Rabbits too were brought to NZ from Europe to provide food but they quickly multiplied because we do not have foxes here to kill them. They cause damage to farms because they eat all the grass. Rats and stoats eat native birds and birds’ eggs. Many of our native birds, like the kiwi, do not fly because they had no predators before humans settled in NZ.
Possums were brought here from Australia for their fur but they have now multiplied also. There are more than 50 million possums in the forests and on farmland. They carry tuberculosis which can spread to cows. They also cause huge damage to trees.
Yesterday, the government said that it will spend $28 million for the next 4 years in an effort to make NZ a predator-free country by 2050. The first goal is our small islands. Already some of these islands are free of predators.
Some special wildlife parks like Zealandia in Wellington have a predator-free fence around them but it is expensive to build these fences.
The Department of Conservation will use 1080 poison again to kill possums. New traps which can set themselves again after an animal is caught are useful because nobody has to check them every day. Some way of making these animals infertile is another possibility. This would mean they could not reproduce.
Maggie Barry, the Minister for Conservation, said she knows that $28m is not enough but she is hoping that councils, private companies and volunteers would also help with money or service.
Vocabulary
• predator – an animal which eats another animal
• possum – native Australian animal possum
• stoat –stoat
• tuberculosis – TB, a disease of the lungs caused by bacteria
• infertile – cannot reproduce, cannot have babies
• Department of Conservation – looks after the environment