531
New Zealanders are largely desensitized to all non-native attrition, and fully
accustomed to massive eradication programs (for those other than the largest of the
non-natives, humans themselves, and the tens of millions of sheep and other “farm
animals” humans exploit). Whereas conservation biology in New Zealand, as we
portrayed in “Hotspots,” has systematically endeavored for well over 160 years
13
to
save many of its most ambassadorial native and endemic species, where genetic
research and complex translocations from one site to another, as well as the building
of costly conservation fences, have coincided with the extirpation paradigms. Not
just possums, gorse or Chilean fireweed, but the biologically prolific members of
the Mustelidae family—stoats, weasels, ferrets; as well as the four New Zealand
rodent species—Kiore (Rattus exulans), Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) Ship Rat
(Rattus rattus), and House mouse (Mus musculus),
14
in addition to feral cats
and deer.
The conservation/animal rights trade-offs? Millions of vertebrates killed, in
order to try and boost from near oblivion the diminutive populations of such avifauna as Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri), the five species of Kiwi (genus Apteryx),
the flightless parrot, the Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), the critically endangered
Yellow-Eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes), the Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos), and New Zealand’s three native mammals—the long-tailed, lesser
short-tailed, and greater short-tailed bats, as well as the seriously threatened Grand
and Otago skinks. For each of the taxa—dozens of the most vulnerable, and others
under the radar screen, like Stewart Island Robins—New Zealand’s Department of
Conservation has notably joined forces with numerous allies. Always the local iwi
(Maori) first, but countless conservation coalitions that do New Zealand proud.
There have been quite literally hundreds of thousands of conservation volunteers
13 See The Habits Of The Flightless Birds Of New Zealand, by Richard Henry, Caretaker of
Resolution Island, Wellington Government Printer, Wellington, NZ, 1903; See also, Our Islands,
Our Selves – A History of Conservation in New Zealand, by David Young, University of Otago
Press, 2004; See also, The Penguin Natural World Of New Zealand -An Illustrated Encyclopaedia
Of Our Natural Heritage, by Gerard Hutching, Penguin Group (NZ), 1998; God’s Country: The
New Zealand Factor, by M. C. Tobias and J. G. Morrison, A Dancing Star Foundation Book, Zorba
Press, Ithaca, NY, 2011; Don Merton, The Man Who Saved the Robin, by Alison Balance,
Photographs by Don Merton, Raupo Publishing (NZ) Ltd., 2007; See also, “Hotspots New Zealand:
What happens when an archipelago populated by bizarre flightless birds is invaded by alien species?” by Kennedy Warne, Photographs by Frans Lanting, National Geographic Magazine, October
2002; and Kiwi – New Zealand’s Remarkable Bird, by Neville Peat, A Godwit Book, Random
House (NZ), Auckland, NZ, 1999; Field Guide To New Zealand Wildlife, by Terence Lindsey and
Rod Morris, HarperCollins Publishers, Auckland, New Zealand, 2003; Forest Lore of the Maori –
With methods of snaring, trapping, and preserving birds and rats, uses of berries, roots, fern-root,
and forest products, with mythological notes on origins, karakia used etc., by Elsdon Best,
Polynesian Society, Dominion Museum, Wellington, New Zealand, 1942; The Prehistory of New
Zealand, by Janet Davidson, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Longman Paul Ltd.,
Auckland, New Zealand, 1987; and New Zealand’s Wilderness Heritage, Text by Les Molloy,
Photography by Craig Potton, Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, New Zealand, 2007.
14 Guide to the identification and collection of New Zealand rodents, by D. M. Cunningham and
P. J. Moors, Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand, 3
rd edition, 1996, https://
www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/rodent-identification.pdf.
56.3 The Hotspots Methodology
New Zealanders are largely desensitized to all non-native attrition, and fully
accustomed to massive eradication programs (for those other than the largest of the
non-natives, humans themselves, and the tens of millions of sheep and other “farm
animals” humans exploit). Whereas conservation biology in New Zealand, as we
portrayed in “Hotspots,” has systematically endeavored for well over 160 years
13
to
save many of its most ambassadorial native and endemic species, where genetic
research and complex translocations from one site to another, as well as the building
of costly conservation fences, have coincided with the extirpation paradigms. Not
just possums, gorse or Chilean fireweed, but the biologically prolific members of
the Mustelidae family—stoats, weasels, ferrets; as well as the four New Zealand
rodent species—Kiore (Rattus exulans), Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus) Ship Rat
(Rattus rattus), and House mouse (Mus musculus),
14
in addition to feral cats
and deer.
The conservation/animal rights trade-offs? Millions of vertebrates killed, in
order to try and boost from near oblivion the diminutive populations of such avifauna as Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri), the five species of Kiwi (genus Apteryx),
the flightless parrot, the Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), the critically endangered
Yellow-Eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes), the Blue Duck (Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos), and New Zealand’s three native mammals—the long-tailed, lesser
short-tailed, and greater short-tailed bats, as well as the seriously threatened Grand
and Otago skinks. For each of the taxa—dozens of the most vulnerable, and others
under the radar screen, like Stewart Island Robins—New Zealand’s Department of
Conservation has notably joined forces with numerous allies. Always the local iwi
(Maori) first, but countless conservation coalitions that do New Zealand proud.
There have been quite literally hundreds of thousands of conservation volunteers
13 See The Habits Of The Flightless Birds Of New Zealand, by Richard Henry, Caretaker of
Resolution Island, Wellington Government Printer, Wellington, NZ, 1903; See also, Our Islands,
Our Selves – A History of Conservation in New Zealand, by David Young, University of Otago
Press, 2004; See also, The Penguin Natural World Of New Zealand -An Illustrated Encyclopaedia
Of Our Natural Heritage, by Gerard Hutching, Penguin Group (NZ), 1998; God’s Country: The
New Zealand Factor, by M. C. Tobias and J. G. Morrison, A Dancing Star Foundation Book, Zorba
Press, Ithaca, NY, 2011; Don Merton, The Man Who Saved the Robin, by Alison Balance,
Photographs by Don Merton, Raupo Publishing (NZ) Ltd., 2007; See also, “Hotspots New Zealand:
What happens when an archipelago populated by bizarre flightless birds is invaded by alien species?” by Kennedy Warne, Photographs by Frans Lanting, National Geographic Magazine, October
2002; and Kiwi – New Zealand’s Remarkable Bird, by Neville Peat, A Godwit Book, Random
House (NZ), Auckland, NZ, 1999; Field Guide To New Zealand Wildlife, by Terence Lindsey and
Rod Morris, HarperCollins Publishers, Auckland, New Zealand, 2003; Forest Lore of the Maori –
With methods of snaring, trapping, and preserving birds and rats, uses of berries, roots, fern-root,
and forest products, with mythological notes on origins, karakia used etc., by Elsdon Best,
Polynesian Society, Dominion Museum, Wellington, New Zealand, 1942; The Prehistory of New
Zealand, by Janet Davidson, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, Longman Paul Ltd.,
Auckland, New Zealand, 1987; and New Zealand’s Wilderness Heritage, Text by Les Molloy,
Photography by Craig Potton, Craig Potton Publishing, Nelson, New Zealand, 2007.
14 Guide to the identification and collection of New Zealand rodents, by D. M. Cunningham and
P. J. Moors, Department of Conservation, Wellington, New Zealand, 3
rd edition, 1996, https://
www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/rodent-identification.pdf.
56.3 The Hotspots Methodology