Monday, 10 May 2021, 10:45 am
Every year an army of introduced predators devours the
eggs and chicks of some 26 million native New Zealand birds,
as well as countless insects, amphibians, reptiles and
plants. We currently have more than 4000 natives on the
threatened species list and many more vulnerable to
predation – New Zealand’s catalogue of shame.
But
in 2016, the nation decided enough was enough. Predator Free
2050 was born — an eviction order served on the three most
voracious predators — rats, stoats and possums. It’s our
most ambitious conservation effort ever and is to be
enforced by hundreds of thousands of ordinary
Kiwis.