New Zealand
fauna
An isolated place with many unique species, now often
(stop me if you've heard this one before) threatened with extinction.
There are not many of those x-ing kiwis left and, the way it looks,
it won't take very long before the only ones around will be living in zoos.
So much for a national symbol.
| It just can't be helped. Dogs and rats are crazy about hunting and eating kiwis (HINT: They Stink), who have no defense whatsoever. You'll never see one except in a special kiwi-house, a sort of zoo-like place where they breed 'em. They're kept in what is as good as total darkness as they are critters of the knight. During our stay, newspapers announced that somewhere or other the Endlösung for the rat problem was about to begin. An enormous poison-eradication campaign, which was the last hope to save the kiwis in that area. Forget it... Fat chance... ¡Lubidá! No Way, José! This is as good an occasion as any to have a cynical look at the problem. Nobody complains about the sheep, cows, cats and dogs that have been imported (well, almost nobody), but they keep kvetsching about possums and rats. The same for apple, pear and cherry trees, grape vines, clover and whatever; those are fine. But when pampas grass takes over original vegetation it's a disaster. Grow up, kids. Like Larry Niven says, "think of it as evolution in action." |
 happy kiwi family a diorama—would I fool you? |
 hen kiwi-henpicked |
Weka-birds
see? more fauna!
Sea Lions Club
puzzle: find the sea-lions!
then, after you've given up, try
the solution
hoofed rats
There still are deer in New Zealand
but now they keep them carefully enclosed
after roaming freely for a number of years, they'd turned into a powerful pest
and had to be eradicated—for once, it worked
Old Broome Hut, 1964; Ongaonga Museum Complex
tin huts for hunters were built all over, orange so you could find 'em from the air
but rest assured, you can still enjoy venison: tame game
Have no fear, no further fauna; except
Beef & Butter — Mutton & Wool — the Worms
and just these horses
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