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Crows, Contest Killing, and Communication

10,000 Birds

The subject was not hunting; it was contest killing. At the end of the day, however, no one from the club’s side ever addressed the actual issue: that people who have no problem with hunting do have a problem with mass slaughter, especially when it is being taught to children. As a group, yes, we are anti-hunting,” she said.

Killing 260
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Acclimatisation Societies of New Zealand

10,000 Birds

Secondly, New Zealand had already experienced on wave of extinction due to the introduction or rats and human hunting. Useful species were ones you could eat, or hunt, or preferably both, which is why New Zealand had several species of deer, the alpine goat-antelopes known as the Chamois and the Himalayan Tahr introduced.

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Where the Kingfishers Are

10,000 Birds

Graceful Honeyeater ( Meliphaga gracilis ) Metallic Starling colony ( Aplonis metallica ) I got my Platypus just before dark; it was much smaller than I expected but utterly enthralling as it hunted along the river bank. The highlight of the night was a Striped Possum, a large squirrel sized possum with black and white striped fur.

Possums 173
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When conservation and animal rights collide

10,000 Birds

I’ve written at length about the specific vulnerability of insular faunas and the catastrophic extinctions caused by the arrival of rats, mice, ferrets, cats and possums (amongst others), here in New Zealand fully half the pre-human bird species were lost.