Allure of Possum Fur

I never would have imagined that an animal could be so much trouble for one nation - that it is a government mandate to deal with them, but I am not sure I agree with this idea of fur. Even if making the fur is done in the most humane way possible, it is still an incredibly cruel act towards the animal and most places don't take the time to treat the animal properly because that wastes time, and therefore money.

I am no expert but I do feel that more of a mass cull would be better than this - encouraging the wearing of any fur is not a good idea in my book.

The vegetarian in me agrees, Amy. I hate the idea of fur products, but it does seem like a good alternative for those folks who do want it. And the possum-wool is really soft!

Hello.  It may be because I've grown up here and I hope I don't offend too much, but I don't personally have much sympathy for Australian Brushtail Possums in New Zealand at all after seeing the kind of effect they quickly have on any environment where they're not actively being controlled. They'll quickly strip huge blocks of trees and go after birds nests and effectively destroy wherever they go. If there wasn't an ongoing programme to control the introduced pests (of which Brushtail Possums make up a major component), the entire back-country of New Zealand would very likely be transformed in the space of a decade or two.

Exterminating the species in New Zealand has been abandoned as being too hard, and I think it'll stay that way until someone invents some kind of genetically engineered anti-possum super virus that gets every single one of them and doesn't touch anything else. For now, however, there are simply ongoing programmes to control the numbers. The main debates aren't so much about whether they should be killed as about how to kill them, and I don't think anyone's hugely concerned about how they die. Simply keeping the numbers down at all is enough of a problem, whether it's by trapping, mass poisoning, throwing rocks at them, or lining them up on the roads and running them (and I've been in a van when about eight of us cheered the driver on that one).

A combination of trapping and aerial 1080 poison drops (especially for the inaccessible places) are the preferred government methods, although there's a lot of volunteer work involved, too. The poison drops are controversial for some people because they kill native birds, and it also means people have to be careful with pets if they go anywhere nearby (eg. dogs that might find poisoned possum carcases lying around), although the birds as species come back much more quickly than the possums, and flourish again for a while.

The possum fur industry here isn't really frowned on by anyone who I've noticed, which I think is because it's just seen as a practical thing you can do with an annoying pest once it's dead. I don't think it has a huge effect on numbers by itself (I may be wrong on this), but what it makes sure of is that the awareness of the problem stays in people's faces.

Back in 1999, while traveling in New Zealand, I had heard about their problem with possums and how, due to no true predators on the Islands they were running rampant and threatening their national icon the Kiwi by eating their eggs before they hatched.

Attempts to control the possum population included dropping poison pellets down for the possums to eat but it had the effect of killing dogs and other animals as well so that was met with some controversy.

While stopping at a restaurant along the road my girlfriend and I saw how truly desperate the situation had become to control the possum population, they offerred possum stew on the menu. When I asked if possum tasted good and if people ordered it, the woman behind the counter admitted, "it isn't an easy sell but some people like it" and she proceeded to pull out a skinned possum from a small freezer. If you cant beat em, eat em!

somefoolonline has contributed a photo to this story.

A shrug knitted out of merino/possum yarn, which I bought in New Zealand.
The possum fur in the yarn makes it very warm and soft, and I like how I can be a part of the solution to the possum pest and doing something I love for a hobby at the same time.

Lykke og Løkker has contributed a photo to this story.

The possum is a major problem in our country. Using the fur to me is the most cost effective way to control the problem. The company I am involved with uses the whole possum. We buy the fur of 18,000 to 20,000 possums a week for export and make duvet inner with a possum fur mix very light and as possum fur the third most thermial fur in the world is very warm. The second part of our bussiness is Fur skins this accounts for 1000 a week. Next we manufacture petfood out of the defurred bodies and increasing bussiness that at present uses 1500 bodies and finally a new area is using the defurred leather this uses the skins off our pet food bodies and is expanding rapidly. All these services are tax free to the NZ public where as goverment poisoning programs cost this small country $90,000,000 a year more than it cost to run a major hospital here.

Hi there

I also have a business Hide Out NZ which utilises Possum Fur.  Possums have been a real problem on my Dads land - they eat the fruit off the trees and strip the vegetation off the small bit of native forest he has.  The fur is as soft as mink and so luxurious and lets not forget its ECO FUR so I am very pleased to be utilitising this beautiful waste product and in the process helping to preserve our native lands.