POSSUMS

Ah, what cuddly little delights these marsupials are! You can't help but feel attracted to the furry little fellows. Unless you're a New Zealander of course.

The Common Brushtail Possum, or Trichosurus vulpecula to give it its Latin name, is native to Australia. There it lives in relatively peaceful coexistence with predators, fellow tree eaters, and vegetation built to withstand the attentions of large herbivores.

In 1837, though, it was released in New Zealand in an attempt to stimulate the growth of the local fur trade. And today you can happily buy a variety of possum fur products, ranging from proper fashion garments to less salubrious novelty items.

But as the possum fur trade took off, so did the possum population. With no natural predators or even significant competitors, and native plants patently unused to being eaten by anything larger than an insect, there was nothing to keep possum numbers down.

By the middle of the 20th century, they were found in about half the country. Another couple of decades later and possums were everywhere, bar a few isolated patches of land or urban sprawl. The current population is something like 70 million, comparing favorably with the number of sheep on New Zealand's grassland.

But while the sheep are more or less welcome, possums are most definitely not. They do serious damage to trees, reducing their economic value in commercial plantations and their ecological value in natural forests.

They also damage populations of rare and native birds by altering local tree habitats and preying directly on young birds and eggs. They're accused of spreading bovine tuberculosis. They're even blamed for the occasional forest fire.

So all in all, there is little sympathy for possums in New Zealand. Which is why you'll also find them on the menu at certain types of restaurant and cafe.

Various control schemes and public education initiatives are in place to tackle the epidemic, fronted by an alliance of public and private institutions and organizations. Indeed, government departments actively encourage and support the trapping and poisoning of the animal, particularly in areas of high conservation value.

Such is the ubiquitous dislike of the possum that it's hard to find anybody with a good word to say about them, even among urban animal lovers. So if you ever want to annoy a local, just express your admiration for the survival instincts of New Zealand's greatest pest.

Note: the photo accompanying this article is © istockphoto.com / Mitch Aunger