Predator Free 2050 by Josephine

85 million years ago NZ was one of the first countries to split apart from Gondwanaland. Gondwanaland is when all the land in the whole Earth was together in one big country - they split up and became the continents. This meant that the only mammals NZ has, either swan here or flew here. 

Because NZ is an island with no mammals, the birds, insects etc became defenceless (because they had no predators to hide from). Maori and Europeans settlers killed lots of animals, and brought with them predators from other countries (for example possums, rats, stoats, dogs). 

Those predators brought here by settlers, have destroyed our native birds/plants. NZ has one of the worst extinction records of any nation in the world. 

NZ has been trying to control the pests by using traps, poisoning but it hasn’t really worked. We need to work together to control the pests. 

It is everyone’s responsibility to control pests and protect native species - all New Zealanders. 

Let's keep the dream alive for a safe and predator free New Zealand 2050!