Stoats and Weasels (1883–1892)

Abstract

Over the decade 1883–1892, at least 7838 British stoats and weasels were landed in New Zealand. At least 25 shipments are known, on named ships, with their consignees and destinations. The number of animals landed according to official customs import data adds up to many more than are listed in the shipping records, so these are minimum estimates. The programme was driven against all objections by Benjamin Bayly, the government’s supervising rabbit inspector, until he was dismissed in 1889 and the government withdrew support for the programme. After 1889, all consignments were commissioned by regional Rabbit Boards. The Allbones’ system of carrying live pigeons 1882–1890 was expensive but generally successful (survival rates c. 90%). Three of six shipments in 1891 recording catastrophic mortality caused serious financial losses to Rabbit Boards, which in 1892 switched to cheaper, locally bred ferrets. More weasels than stoats were landed (2622:963), and both spread widely throughout both main islands, but weasels are now rare. The two species were nearly the last alien predators to be introduced, and their effects on the native fauna are often less than those of rats, but kiwi chicks, rock wrens and beech forest endemics are especially vulnerable to stoats.