Common brushtail possum in New Zealand facts for kids
The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is a major pest in New Zealand.
Contents
Introduction by European settlers
European settlers introduced the common brushtail possum from Australia (from Victorian and Tasmanian populations) to New Zealand in the 1850s. By doing so they aimed to establish a wild source for food and fibre and fur pelts for clothing.
By the 1980s the peak population had reached an estimated 60–70 million. Through control measures, by 2009 the New Zealand population had been reduced to an estimated 30 million.
Impact
The introduction of possums has caused problems for the environment. Possums like to eat certain native plants, especially broadleaved trees like the rata. This can hurt the trees and lead to competition for food with native birds, which changes the forest and can even cause the tree canopy to collapse.
Possums are opportunistic eaters, meaning they will also eat the eggs of native birds. While they don’t affect southern beech trees as much, their presence can reduce the variety of other plants in those forests since they eat many of them.
Possums are transmitters of bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis), which is a major threat to the dairy, beef, and deer farming industries. In spite of regular and frequent TB testing of cattle herds, the number of infected herds snowballed and continued to increase until 1994. The area of New Zealand where there were TB wild animals expanded from about 10 to 40%.
Control
Possums are controlled through a combination of trapping, ground-baiting and, where other methods are impractical, aerial treatment with 1080 poison.
Economic uses
_fur_skin.jpg)
An industry using fur pelts and wool mixed with possum fur fibre has developed, with trappers and hunters providing raw material. The fur is often sold as 'eco-fur' by a number of manufacturing and retailing businesses.
There is also a small industry processing possum meat as 'Possyum' dog food, also for export.
Interesting facts about the common brushtail possum
- In Māori the common brushtail possum is called paihamu
- Almost half (13.3 million hectares) of New Zealand's vegetated land is under some form of possum control.
- Possum hairs are hollow, like polar bear hairs, and the wool produced is both soft, and an excellent insulator.
- In Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia possum meat is regarded as a delicacy and known as "Kiwi bear".
Images for kids
-
Shells of native snails eaten by possums
