New Zealand hopes to get rid of all its invasive mammalian predators, engaging into something that looks like a Pied Piper operation across the country.
The plan intends to stretch just until 2050 when the authorities hope to eradicate all rats, stoats, and possums successfully. The conservation project is one of the most ambitious in the world.
The New Zealand’s prime minister explains that the country’s goals moved from deforestation to the invasive predators.
New Zealand had been geographically isolated for 80 million years, which lead to a unique evolution of animals, plants, and fungi. Before the humans arrived on the islands, the land was covered 80% with forests.
The Pied Piper Operation
Possums and stoats manage to kill 25 million native birds each year, and they also feed off lizards and small animals. They also can transmit diseases. s
To keep the invasive populations under control, the government spends 3.3 billion New Zealand dollars annually.
The conservation project receives funding from the local and federal governments and private companies, and it will cost the authorities NZ$28 million per year.
The country has no native mammals except bats and marine animals. As the plants and the fauna on the island didn’t evolve with mammalian predators, the invasive species could have a large impact on the local population.
The government intends to build up fences, traps, and to use poisons and grass-roots support to eliminate the invaders. Even if the timeline of the project has 34 years, the biologists believe it can be done in 25 years.
The Invasive Species
The rats had been introduced on the islands 700 years ago by Maori settlers, which ate the creatures. In the meantime, the kiore exterminated some of the local species. The kiore got eliminated, but the European ships brought along the rats.
As for the stoats, they were introduced to control the invasive population of rabbits and hares. At first, the rabbits were brought as a source of food. But they quickly grew in numbers, so they had to be controlled.
The possums arrived in the 1830s when the locals tried to use them in the fur trade. However, they started to eat bird eggs and damage forests.
However, the press release describing the project mentions only rats, stoats, and possums. However, there is another invasive mammalian plaguing Australia, the cute cats. No one knows yet how the government will deal with them.
Image Source: Wikipedia