New Zealand Mammals

DSC_3044 Brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) eating native Powelliphanta land snail. It was not until the 1970s that scientists began to realise that possums rather than rats and pigs were responsible for large numbers of dead snails found in the South Island’s mountain forests and alpine grasslands. Possums bite through the shell near its opening and extract the snail within *

11002-26101 Red deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) stag roaring in forest clearing *

DSC_6515 Feral ferret (Mustela putorius furo) male with weka. Ferrets were brought to NZ to control rabbits - before stoats and weasels were tried. The semi-domesticated ferrets were easier to obtain and breed, but they were vulnerable to canine distemper and to cold, wet high country weather, and so stoats and weasels were imported instead. Male ferrets are twice the weight of females, and prefer rabbits as prey, whereas females prefer rats. However in NZ flightless ground birds including kiwi, weka and penguins have become new targets for these introduced predators *

11002-13203 European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) albino male curled up in autumn leaves. Clyde *

DSC_9564 Weasel (Mustela nivalis vulgaris) male with brown kiwi chick. The weasel is the smallest member of the order Carnivora. Introduced in 1885-86, this particular subspecies originated in western and central Europe. Although they have a patchy distribution in NZ, because of competition with stoats, they have wreaked havoc on our native flightless birds *

DSC_6254 Red deer (Cervus elaphus scoticus) hind and fawn with autumn foliage. Red deer in NZ today are often interbred mixtures of wild and park herds from the British Isles and Europe. They are hardy survivors and have been hunted by humans for at least 40,000 years. They were widely depicted in cave art found throughout European caves dating from the Upper Paleolithic. They mature at 2 years and are able to produce a fawn every year. This rapid rate of reproduction has helped them endure intense human hunting pressure. Southland *

11002-68102 Orca (Orcinus orca) commonly seen in New Zealand waters although there is only a population of a few hundred *

11002-18321 Ship rat (Rattus rattus) there are three colour morphs of this rat in NZ. The white-bellied 'frugivorus' morph shown here is widespread in the North Island *

DSC_6292 Fallow deer (Dama dama) mature buck in autumn beneath english oaks, while herd in background feed on fallen acorns. Blue Mountains, Southland *

11002-45415 Southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) adult male guarding lactating female and pup *

1002-64322 Rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) males deliberately carry a thatch' of vegetation around in their antlers during the rut *

11002-75102 Short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) common in coastal waters, often in very large pods. Distinct 'hour-glass' pattern on flanks *

11002-09101 Parma wallaby (Macropus parma) the smallest wallaby in its genus. Rediscovered on Kawau Island in 1965 when it was thought to be extinct in Australia *

11002-07103 Dama wallaby (Macropus eugenii) occur on Kawau Island, and in the Rotorua district, centred around Lake Tarawera in the North Island. Dama prefer edge habitats with dense vegetation cover adjacent to grass feeding areas *

11002-10101 Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus) male at edge of scrub. First introduced from Australia, for recreational hunting in 1874 (one male and two females were released near Waimate) this is the only wallaby species recorded in the South Island. Numbers have increased at an alarming rate and despite control measures, wallabies are well established, especially in the Hunter Hills area, between Waimate and the Waitaki River. They are now moving south *

11002-57612 Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) introduced from Tasmania in 1874. An 'edge' species requiring scrubby cover close to grasslands for grazing *

11002-57522 Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) confined to the South Island and the largest wallaby in New Zealand. Widespread in the Hunter Hills inland from Waimate *

11002-57520 Bennetts wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) joey peering from pouch *

DSC_1238 Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) a wallaby pest sign hanging on a farm gate in North Otago. Confined to the South Island and the largest wallaby in New Zealand, wallabies are widespread in the Hunter Hills inland from Waimate. In more recent times this agricultural pest has dispersed out of South Canterbury, and into North Otago, where this sign was posted in the Upper Manuherikia Valley *

DSC_8353 Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) skull prepared by George Holley. This species is confined to the South Island and the largest wallaby in New Zealand. Of the six wallaby species introduced into New Zealand, this has been the most successful, and is now regarded as a serious agricultural pest. Widespread in the Hunter Hills inland from Waimate *

DSC_8299 Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) skull prepared by George Holley. This species is confined to the South Island and the largest wallaby in New Zealand. Of the six wallaby species introduced into New Zealand, this has been the most successful, and is now regarded as a serious agricultural pest. Widespread in the Hunter Hills inland from Waimate *

DSC_8351 Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) ventral view of upper jaw prepared by George Holley. This species is confined to the South Island and the largest wallaby in New Zealand. Of the six wallaby species introduced into New Zealand, this has been the most successful, and is now regarded as a serious agricultural pest. Widespread in the Hunter Hills inland from Waimate *

DSC_8350 Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) lower jaw prepared by George Holley. This species is confined to the South Island and the largest wallaby in New Zealand. Of the six wallaby species introduced into New Zealand, this has been the most successful, and is now regarded as a serious agricultural pest. Widespread in the Hunter Hills inland from Waimate *

11002-12101 Swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor apicalis) the largest of Australia's native wallabies, they are presumed to have been introduced to Kawau Island by Governor George Grey around 1870. Known on Kawau as ‘wallaroos,’ the species occured over most of Kawau in damp or scrubby areas, but it is not abundant compared with the Tammar, and Parma wallabies Grey also introduced. Wallabies on Kawau have a negative impact on the island's ecosystem were heavy browsing has left little understorey, or even leaf litter in Kawau’s kanuka forest and broadleaved forest fragments *

DSC_6717 Brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) eating native Powelliphanta land snail. It was not until the 1970s that scientists began to realise that possums rather than rats and pigs were responsible for large numbers of dead snails found in the South Island’s mountain forests and alpine grasslands. Possums bite through the shell near its opening and extract the snail within *