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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.

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Can Stewart Island become Pest Free?

10,000 Birds

The provision of more predator free islands has made conserving endangered species much easier, although there still are risks, illustrated perhaps best by a recent near miss where a possum almost reached predator-free Kapiti Island.