A stuffed possum was the celebrity guest at the Kaharoa Kokako Trust gazebo when we attended the recent Matariki celebration at Hamurana Springs. This wonderful event, hosted by Ngati Rangiwewehi, attracted hundreds of people from the Rotorua community. Many of these visitors stopped to pat our possum and chat about our kokako recovery work.
One of the things that often surprises me is the lack of public knowledge about possums. Children and adults alike find them cute to look at and soft to touch, but they often don't realise what a huge pest these animals are.
Back in the 1990s, a large research experiment showed that the reason kokako numbers were declining in New Zealand was because of possums and ship rats. These animals attack kokako nests and kill the eggs and chicks. It the mother bird puts up a fight, she will often be injured or killed as well. Sadly, like most of our native birds, they are not well adapted to defend again animal predators.
That's where people like us come in. By reducing the number of possums and rats during the nesting season, we enable the chicks to fledge successfully. Once they have left the nest, they are relatively safe from predators. And that's why the numbers of kokako at Kaharoa have increased.
Possums might look cute and cuddly, but they are voracious predators that do enormous damage to New Zealand's biodiversity. If more people could only grasp this fact more fully, there might be better understanding of why toxins and other pest control methods are used and needed in New Zealand, including 1080.
Below: That's me outside our gazebo at the Matariki celebration.
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