Public Attitudes toward Possum Fertility Control and Genetic Engineering in New Zealand

Roger Wilkinson & Gerard Fitzgerald

Landcare Research Science Series No. 29

Possums have increased in number to a phenomenal degree since their introduction to New Zealand in the 1850s, and in doing so have become a serious threat to its native flora and fauna.  There are now about 60 million possums in New Zealand and they are considered the major animal pest in this country. At the same time, there are increasing concerns about public acceptability and animal welfare aspects of current control methods such as trapping and poisoning. Consequently there is a need for a long-term control solution, and research into biological control as a way to reduce breeding is being carried out by Landcare Research and its collaborators.

Previous research by the authors of this report suggested that fertility control would be the form of biological control of possums most acceptable to the New Zealand public, and in this publication they describe the results of a more recent survey of public attitutes towards possum fertility control and genetic engineering.

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Author: Roger Wilkinson & Gerard Fitzgerald
ISBN: 978-0-47-809374-2
Publisher: Manaaki Whenua Press
Publication date: 2006
Pages: 50
Format: Spiralbound