Yes, I think the possums were taken over for a fur industry. In urban Oz they are also a problem, particularly with fruit, which they eat and with sex, which they like to have on your roof when you are trying to sleep.
In the area I live, possums are as good as extinct, only a very few small marsupial possums left. Gil Thomas Schley wrote: > Hi Gil, > > If you mean those Aussie possums that climb up power poles and short > them out then yes, you can have 'em back. NZ is trying to cope with > the possums (they brought in to NZ from Oz and have become a pest > there) through all sorts of stratagems to get their numbers down such > as spinning their fur for clothing. Sorry about the trout. Guess > the acclimatisation societies of the 19th century wanted to bring > everything from "home" (whether Europe or America) to the colonies. > NZ even imported moose and elk (correctly known as wapiti down > under), which fortunately never became the pests that European red > deer did. The deer caused terrible erosion problems on NZs steep > volcanic soils. > > Tom > > > >Hi! Tom, > >We have major carp problems in our larger rivers, of which we have very > >few. They have put many native fish under stress, forcing some to > >extinction, as well as fouling the waters. We also have Trout trouble, > >which we see are a pest feral. It has also displaced native fish. I am > >interested to hear the method of transport. We may have got ours from > >you. We will give them back, if you return our possums. > > > >Gil
