New Zealand animals

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The kiwi is a national symbol of New Zealand.

The animals of New Zealand have a particularly interesting history because, before the arrival of humans, probably less than 1,300 years ago, the country was completely free of mammals, except those that could swim there (seals, sea lions, and, off-shore, whales) or fly there (bats). This meant that all the ecological niches occupied by mammals elsewhere were occupied by either insects or birds, leading to an unusually large number of flightless birds, including the Kiwi, the Moa, and the Kakapo. Because of the lack of predators even the bats spend most of their time on the ground. There are also about 60 species of lizard (30 each of gecko and skink), and four species of frog (all rare and endangered).

Humans first arrived via the Pacific islands, bringing with them the Polynesian Rat (Kiore) and the domesticated dog. Europeans later brought pigs, ferrets, stoats, mice, rats, dogs, cats, sheep, cattle, and many other mammals. Of these, the rats, ferrets, cats, stoats and dogs have all seriously impacted on the New Zealand fauna, driving many species to extinction. Possums were introduced from Australia for a fur industry, and deer from Europe as game animals, both seriously damaging the forest habitat of many birds.

In recent years, successful efforts have been made to remove possums, rats, ferrets, and other mammals from many offshore islands, large and small, in an effort to return these places to something more closely resembling their original state. An estimated 30 tons of dead possums were removed from Kapiti Island, for example. Similarly, efforts are being made to control such species in selected locations on the mainland. In a further step, in certain mainland reserves mammals are being completely eliminated within predator-proof fences creating ecological islands. Examples are the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington City, from which about a ton of dead possums was removed after the installation of a mammal-proof fence, and the Maungatautari Restoration Project.