What can us 'normal' people do to help?

1. You can buy as much possum fur as possible so the shops can raise more money to kill more possums., because the government or the killers aren't getting paid for this.

2. Drive around at night near where possums are living in large numbers and find a lone possum inoccently walking on the road and drive into it while the little monster is hyptonized by your car's headlights.

3. You can join possum killing teams.

4. Donate to the government so they can kill the possums easiler with machine guns instead of wasting money on traps and expensive bait. 

Department of Conservation

Q: Who are the Department of Conservation?
A: The D.O.C is a government orgaization which their role is to sustain New Zealand's natural heritage to future generations.


Q: What is D.O.C and The Royal Society of Forests and Birds doing to prevent possums destroying our resources?
A: They are currently researching about how they can stop possums reproducing effectively. They also set up traps in parks and forests using the bait in cage method to make furry clothing. The D.O.C is working very hard to get rid of these pests, but so far, it hasn't made much of an effect yet. Plus, this is costing millions of dollars! The ultimate secret weapon is still unexistant right now.


Q: What are some failures and successes the organisation's have had?
A: Our NZ citizens are trying hard to kill millions of possums a year, but it's not making much of a difference because there are approximately 70 million possums living in NZ and millions more are being born right at this moment. Scientists have done trials of many different types of traps, but most of them havent become official. A success is that scientists have made a possum birth control chemical, so they won't multiply as much. But it is pretty hard to get 35 million possums and give them the 'pill'.

1080 & other baits

1080 is a poisonous bait which is one of the ways people kill possums. It looks like a light, white powder, which has no smell in it's original/natural form. It decomposes like compost.
Normally it would be thrown around a forest from a helicopter held in a large tarpaulin. It sometimes is put in a bomb. It is absorbable and mixes well with water.
A lethal amount of 1080 causes animals to run out of energy until they die. But the process is painless because it causes their brains to become unaware to what's happening to their body, so its not as messy and inhumane. The animal dies in a few hours to a few days.
But the bad thing is that sometimes our native or just normal animals accidentally eat it and die too.

A new trap has been invented just recently which contains sugar and oil in the machine, which possums love. When a possum goes near it, it triggers a blade which chop the possum's head off. It can kill 35 animals before it needs to be rechecked.

Other ways of killing possums are gassing, trapping them in cages using bair, poisoning them, just plain shooting them e.t.c.

Possum Problems

* The possums eat approximately 20,000 tonnes of leaves, berries and fruit every night, that's equal to 4,000 truckloads!


* These possums have no animal predators.


* They are a problem to NZ plants, animals, birds, bats, insects and any other New Zealand wildlife.


* Some of the trees possums LOVE to eat is Pohutukawa, Kohekohe, Rata, Totara and Kowhai.


* Possums are know to spread fatal diseases.


* The brushtail possum is doing all the damage, so don't blame other possums.

* THE POSSUM IS THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY DAMAGING ANIMAL IN NZ.  

Trichosurus Vulpecula

 * There are over 70 million possums in New Zealand, which means there are over 17 possums per person in New Zealand!

* They are not native in New Zealand, but they are native AND protected in Australia!

* Possums were introduced in 1837 from Australia for their fur. But it was later until 1946 when people started to realise that they became a problem to NZ.

* Possums literally eat a tree to it's death!

* Possums give birth to a baby every year!

* Possums are spread out all over New Zealand, all living in 90% of NZ land.

* They eat up the tree's leaves until their 'bones' show.

* The pests wake up at around dusk, just before night and spend the next few hours chatting with other possums and eating.

* Baby possums ride on their mother's back at 3 months old, drinking milk and maybe some bits of their mother's food.

* Possums eat a W I D E variety of food.

* Trees are a possum's home.

* When possums see a bright light in the dark, they become 'hypnotised' because they are attracted to it and the possum is immobile and ignores what it is happening around it. This is the best to cath a possum. This is why alot of possums get hit by cars!