Day 3, Activity 2

After your great visit to the Otorohanga bird house it is time to hop back onto the bus and head towards the Hawke’s Bay – your resting place for the evening. Hawke’s Bay is a beautiful region of New Zealand. It is known for its wineries and gorgeous scenery. When you arrive in Napier, the largest city in the region, you go for a walk through Waitangi Regional Park and notice that many of the leaves on the native trees have been damaged. Curious Kiwi tells you that they were damaged by possums, non-native predators, from Australia. People in New Zealand are working hard to trap and kill these predators. Their goal is to remove all of the possums (and other predators) by 2050. Go to the ‘Predator Free 2050 website’ to read more about their work.

On your blog, tell us whether you agree that New Zealand should be predator free. In your opinion, is it right to kill all of the predators (eg. possums) or should we just leave them alone? On your blog tell us what you think and give us, at least, three reasons why you think this way.

In my opinion, I agree that New Zealand should be predator free.  Is it right to kill all of the predators or should we just leave them alone?

I feel that we do have a right to kill the predators because if they are left to continue to kill our native wildlife, they will be killing wildlife that are unique to Aotearoa.  Those creatures that make New Zealand, New Zealand.

Possum are only one of the many predators that are threatening our native creatures.  Possum should be killed for the following reasons

• Possum are able to breed much faster than those creatures that are native to NZ.  I read that a possum gives birth to 16-20 (often more) babies, only 12-13 days after mating. (The Opossum - Wildlife Rescue League www.wildliferescueleague.org/pdf/opossum6.pdf)
• Possum are eating the native creatures babies/eggs/food
• Possums carry a disease called bovine Tb (tuberculosis) which they spread to cattle.  We export meat, and other byproducts of cattle that help keep our country economy healthy
• We can use their fur for clothing, use the meat for our domestic pets food

In an ideal world, New Zealand would be predator free and our native wildlife would continue to live in peace.

Once you have finished your blog post, it is time to relax for the evening. You and your friends have a nice dinner and then head to bed. You are just about to fall asleep when you hear something moving around outside your hotel. It sounds like a large bird. Maybe it’s a Moa…

To learn more about the Moa bird go to the bonus activity for today!