| [00:00.00] |
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, |
| [00:02.17] |
the mammals have finally arrived in force. |
| [00:06.31] |
Australian possums. |
| [00:08.50] |
Imported for their fur two centuries ago, |
| [00:11.02] |
they soon reached plague proportions, |
| [00:14.03] |
stripping trees of their vegetation. |
| [00:16.60] |
A war is being waged against them. |
| [00:19.19] |
Traps set and poison scattered. |
| [00:22.01] |
And yet they are now far more numerous than the kakapo ever were. |
| [00:25.64] |
A staggering 70 million possums overrun New Zealand's forests, |
| [00:29.81] |
where a bird failed, a mammal has succeeded. |
| [00:33.30] |
But why? |
| [00:34.39] |
The possums were unwitting immigrants, |
| [00:36.40] |
while the kakapo have lived here for millennia, |
| [00:38.67] |
perfectly adapted to this forest. |
| [00:40.95] |
It's an irony that is by no means unique to the kakapo and the possum. |
| [00:44.90] |
Right across the Pacific, similar scenes have been unfolding. |
| [00:48.57] |
Tiny islands off the coast of New Zealand |
| [00:50.72] |
are the last refuge for a host of animals |
| [00:53.52] |
now vanished from the two main islands. |
| [00:56.16] |
This is Stephens Island, |
| [00:58.33] |
one square mile of rock protruding from the ocean. （ |
