New Zealand Birds

For 80 million years, there were no land mammals in New Zealand and the only predators that the birds had were birds of prey. Many became flightless. Of the about 245 species, 71% were endemic - found nowhere else. Since humans arrived 800 years ago dozens of species have been hunted to extinction, 75% of the ice-free land has been altered, 85% of the wetlands drained and predatory mammals introduced. Sixty-one species of birds have become extinct and 77 species are currently threatened with extinction.

There is hope. Last year, the Government produced Te Mana o te Taiao, a road map to reverse the decline over the next 30 years. It will complement Predator Free 2050, a bold plan to rid New Zealand of predators: rats, stoats, ferrets, weasels and possums.