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The introduction of the mongoose to hawaii was a big problem for bird biodiversity


There's similar issues with possums in New Zealand, who also have no natural predators there and have flourished. New Zealand wants to eradicate them to save their native birds.

But what's interesting is: the same possum is extremely endangered in it's native habitat in Australia because of so many introduced predators.

So do you go to war to kill the invasive species, even if that contributes to their extinction?

Does it matter that as an invasive species, they might cause multiple species of birds to go extinct?

Lots of interesting ecological, biological, and ethical things to consider.


The common brushtail possum is very common in Australia and far from endangered, if anything it's adapted quite well to urban life. There are other species of possums that are endangered, but they're not the ones in NZ.




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