Killing for conservation

“People are really willing to kill for conservation. It’s kind of a national pastime.” These are the words of Jack Russell, a scientist hired to remove all invasive species from New Zealand by 2050. Tall order, but what’s entailed and what are the benefits?

New Zealand may look small, but at 268,000 square kilometres of cities, towns and Lord of the rings landscape, this is an ambition task, even with a budget of £50 billion. Many people struggle to catch one rat in their house, never mind every rat in the country. Although poisoning hundreds of thousands of animals may seem brutal, culling these “invaders” could benefit the native wildlife considerably and restore the original biodiversity of this country.

Invasive species are a huge threat to biodiversity (the variety of plant and animals in a specific place). Most of New Zealand’s invasive species were introduced by humans, either on purpose or accidentally, and include rats, possums and stoats. But, not all introduced species go on to be invasive. An introduced animal must first learn to live comfortably in its new environment before it can even be considered a naturalised species. All good and well. One big happy family as they say. The problem arises when these introduced (turned naturalised) species start to get selfish and take more than their fair share. Only then can a species be categorised as invasive. Spreading like wild fire and often ‘out’ eating their neighbours, the local species start to die.

The UK is no stranger to invasive species. The most obvious being the grey squirrel which now out competes our own red squirrel to the point you’re lucky if you see even one in your lifetime. But, do you think a £50 billion investment to remove our own invasive species is worth it? Would you be willing to kill for conservation?