The possum

Story 2/21: Possums irritating kiwis

Soft roadkill – possums causing kiwis gray hair

May, 2003

Campervan is climbing a rather steep tarmac hill. Lush vegetation lines the road both sides like a green wall. Sun is shining from a blue sky and the sound of a car radio is occasionally vanishing due to hills and the lower antenna coverage in the rural areas.

Young family of three is lined up on the cockpit. Youngest member is year and seven months and sipping water occasionally from her drinking cup and observing the scenery gliding by. Parents are talking about the various Māori motifs they saw in the jewelry stores of the previous town.

Mother had bought a little greenstone pendant in a spiral form and was studying a tiny folded piece of paper explaining some main forms and meanings of these “pounamu” talismans. As the friendly saleswoman had explained the twists in jade represent the various paths of life and love and is seen as a symbol of eternity.

While they were debating on the meaning of the hook form, father behind the wheel suddenly stepped on the break stopping both the discussion and the vehicle. While he stepped out the lady argued on stopping by the road in the middle of nowhere. 

Man went behind the van and leaned down to the road shoulder to study a brown bundle of hair. In the straight endless roads of Central Australia, he had filmed some dead kangaroos and being on the Southern Hemisphere he felt interested to study the roadkill.

It wasn’t easy to see wildlife unless you were willing to sit silent in an observation hut in the nature and even if you wanted, the attention span of year-and-half-old was not to last such a task. But sadly, the nocturnal cars stopped and smashed animals to asphalt like butterflies are pinned to an insect collection.

In early 2000’s the Internet was not in everyman’s pocket and mobile phones were mainly used just for calling and sending short text messages over SMS. So, Googling for the species was not an option, but a Flora and fauna section of the Lonely Planet -guidebook was a good start.

Yet, in this case it was not needed – it was clearly signposted with a black and yellow warning sign: “POSSUM”.

Originally there were no mammals on four legs in New Zealand. It was largely a “kingdom of birds”. The British settlers imported sheep to produce milk, meat and wool. In 1837 they decided to import possums from Australia to New Zealand to start fur industry.

These marsupials did not have pouches like koala or kangaroo, but they were capable of escaping their cages like same sized mammals, cats, are in opening doors and vanishing to their own paths. Run aways have run around in numbers and possess now significant threat to the original and unique nature of New Zealand.

Epilogue: In search of the photo of the “POSSUM” warning sign, I only found a diapositive of the World’s longest place name – also from New Zealand. Bit odd tourist attraction. So, I must have been taking the possum-stop to videotape and it is not worth to go through the trouble to transfer the video. Well, the sign of the “Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu” is probably bit more surprising, I guess ;o)

Some background data:

New Zealand (NZ): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand

Pounamu:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pounamu

Possums in NZ:  https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/animal-pests/possums/

New Zealand native animals: https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/

Invasive species: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species

Questions:

1. Conservation. Possums were imported to New Zealand from Australia. Why they became problematic in New Zealand, but not in Australia?
2. Ecosystems are delicate constructions – single foreign plant or animal species can create problems, if they start spreading and threat original flora and fauna. Can you give examples? Search the Internet, if in doubt.
3. New Zealand. People of New Zealand have a nickname, that can be associated to a native – and their national – bird or to a fruit. What is it?
4. Discuss. Your view: What thoughts did rise in your mind having read the story? Discuss with your pair.

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