Hill lice

The peak in New Zealand sheep numbers was reached in 1982, with a total of 70.3 million sheep. In the same year, there were 3.18 million people in New Zealand, which works out to 22 sheep per person. Sheep numbers have gradually declined since the mid 1980s, due to factors such as depressed wool prices, droughts in the 1990s, and competition from other land-intensive farming activities (e.g. dairy and forestry). A low of 39.3 million sheep was recorded in 2004. But, sheep numbers have begun to stabilise, and in the most recent years, there has been population growth.