Following the first importation of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) into New Zealand, both species became major pests. By the 1990s, the possum population had reputedly reached seventy million. Both possums and rabbits repeatedly devastated large areas of the country, and attempts to control their numbers became a huge and costly national enterprise.
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Further Readings:
- Crosby, Alfred. Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
- Garden, Don. Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific: An Environmental History. Nature and Human Societies, edited by Mark R. Stoll. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.
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1838