Re: "The Trek: An Epic of Survival (The Darwin's World Series)" by Jack L Knapp

On 23/12/24 13:33, Cryptoengineer wrote:

snip for brevity. Re:Rabbits

From your other post:

Myxomatosis isn't a poison - its a disease which was rapidly
fatal in rabbits, though now, in Australia, resistant animals
are appearing.

Yes, a disease, which was outlawed by NZ govt but imported and
distributed many years ago. It was less effective in subsequent uses
when it was legalised as the rabbit built up resistance as you say.

 
NZ is chock-full of 'ground dwelling creatures that are easier to catch
and more delicious".

I can't think of any in the Central Otago area mainly affected by rabbits.

Until human settlement less than 1000  years, ago, the only native
land mammals were bats. As a result, there are a large number of
native ground-dwelling, flightless birds, such as the kiwi.

There are only about a dozen left now, counting the kiwi as one. And
numbers are low. We ate all the moa.

Eliminating ground dwelling non-human mammals altogether is an
ongoing project.

Even in forest close to cities there is a plethora of stoats or weasels
and possums are just as big a problem as rabbits in some areas. At least
we have a great balance between wild pigs and pig hunters, so no problem
there. I don't know if wild deer are still a problem but they have been
decades ago.