The environmental impact of Possums

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The environmental impact of Possums

• In New Zealand

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The Possums Background

• Australian Brush Tailed Possum
• Latin name Trichosurus vulpecula
• Originated From Australia in 1837 to establish a
  fur trade.

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Possum Abilities

• Possums
• have sharp claws - good for climbing trees
• have a thick bushy tail
• are nocturnal (is active during the night)
• can see well in the dark
• have big ears - all the better for hearing other
  possums during the night
• dont like living in cold, damp
• are a marsupial (a marsupial is an animal that
  carries its young in a pouch)

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Why are Possums a Pest

• They feed on and kill native and exotic trees,
  feeding on leaves and berries and stripping bark
• They feed on and damage orchard trees, shelter
  belts, crops and pasture
• They eat our native birds (eggs, fledglings and
  adults)
• They eat our native invertebrates, such as
  insects
• They compete with native birds for food and
  habitat
• They spread bovine tuberculosis in deer and
  cattle, which poses a serious threat to New
  Zealands agricultural industry
• 50 million are spent on possum control

5
Predators of a Possum

• Sadly there are no predators here in New Zealand
  (apart from humans)
• This is the reason for their great numbers in New
  Zealand ( 70 000 000 )

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Effect on Native flora and fauna

• They eat about 8 million tones of native
  vegetation each year
• They eat the next growth/seedlings of rata,
  totara, titoki, kowhai and kohekohe.
• They eat the eggs and chicks of native birds

7
Possum Control

• We will show 3 different Possum control
  methods. They include biological, mechanical and
  chemical control.

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Biological Control

• Biological control reduces possum breeding in
  areas. The possums ' own biological systems will
  be used to get in the way with the method by
  which sperm fertilises the egg. This response
  will be triggered by proteins that make up part
  of the outer layer of the sperm or egg, and will
  stop female possums producing eggs and/or disrupt
  the fertilisation of any eggs produced. The
  biological control agent based on the sperm or
  egg proteins will be made into bait and fed to
  possums from bait stations.

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Mechanical control

• There are many different mechanical devices which
  can be used to successfully capture possums, some
  of them are
• Guns-one of the most common and favourite way to
  dispose of the possums.
• Timms traps-a bright yellow box which has bait
  inside it and lures the possums head into the
  opening . Then the metal bar snaps up under the
  creatures neck (breaking it)
• Cage traps-much like the timms trap using bait it
  lures the possum when the possum takes the bait
  the trapdoor is triggered.

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Chemical control

• There are a few techniques to chemically control
  possums.
• Cyanide-a poison which gives near instant death
  to the possum which eats it.
• 1080-or sodium fluoroacetate. 1080 occurs in
  nature as a plant toxin called fluoroacetate. It
  is found in a number of plants (including the tea
  plant) in South Africa, South America, and
  Australia. The toxin is thought to have evolved
  as a deterrent to browsing animals. 1080 is
  biodegradable so does not accumulate in the
  environment. It only affects mammals. The
  chemical formula is C2H2FNaO2. There is no
  antidote.

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Possibly brought to u by

• Us (me and the other 2 (Robbie and Ben))