Every possum merino garment contributes directly to New Zealand conservation. The brushtail possum is one of the country's most destructive introduced predators, and the fur used in possum merino knitwear comes from trappers doing pest control work — protecting native birds while creating a sustainable luxury fibre. It's a rare case where fashion and conservation genuinely align.
New Zealand's birds are unlike anything else on earth. For millions of years, this archipelago sat in isolation, and its wildlife evolved accordingly — no land mammals, no ground predators, no need to fly. Birds filled every ecological niche. Some grew large and flightless. Others became expert forest foragers. Many nested on the ground without fear.
Then colonisers arrived, and with them, rats, stoats, and brushtail possums. The damage has been profound. But in the forests and sanctuaries where predators are actively controlled, something remarkable is happening: the birds are coming back.
Possum merino is part of that story. Here are four of the species that benefit most.
Kiwi — Aotearoa's Icon Under Pressure
The kiwi is so embedded in Aotearoa's identity that it has become a symbol of the country recognised around the world. These small, nocturnal birds are genuinely extraordinary — nostrils at the tip of their long bill for sniffing out insects and worms in the dark, the largest egg relative to body size of any bird on earth, and a lifespan that can stretch past 50 years.
They're also in serious trouble. In unmanaged bush, fewer than 5% of kiwi chicks survive to adulthood — predators take the rest. Possums contribute directly, raiding nests for eggs and competing with kiwi for the same forest foods. The population is declining by around 2% a year in areas without active management, which works out to roughly 20 kiwi lost every week.
The difference predator control makes is stark. With intensive management, chick survival rates climb to 50–60%. On the Coromandel, sustained trapping has seen kiwi numbers doubling every decade. The data is unambiguous: where predators are controlled, kiwi recover.
Kōkako — A Story of Near Loss and Slow Return
If you've never heard a kōkako call, look it up. It's one of the most haunting sounds in any forest anywhere — a deep, resonant series of notes that carries through the trees at dawn. It features on the New Zealand $50 note, alongside Pureora Forest Park, one of the key sites of its recovery.
By the late 1990s, the North Island kōkako population had fallen to around 330 pairs. The South Island kōkako is almost certainly extinct — no confirmed sightings since the 1960s. Possums are a primary cause: they raid nests directly and strip the leaves, fruit, and nectar that kōkako depend on. In unmanaged forests, kōkako populations disappear. Population losses are slow to recover in a bird that raises only one or two chicks per season.
What has happened since intensive predator control began is one of New Zealand's most extraordinary conservation stories. By 2023, the North Island kōkako population had grown to over 2,300 pairs — up from 330 in under 25 years. At the Hunua Ranges south of Auckland, the programme started in 1995 with a single breeding pair. There are now more than 250. At Pureora Forest, sustained control has produced the largest mainland population ever recorded since recovery efforts began.
The kōkako's conservation status has been updated from Threatened to Nationally Increasing. Every pair represents sustained, ongoing work on the ground.
Kererū — The Forest's Seed Carrier
The kererū — New Zealand's native wood pigeon — is large, iridescent, and unmistakable in flight. But beyond being beautiful, kererū are ecologically essential in a way few other birds are: they're one of the only birds left in New Zealand large enough to swallow the seeds of many native trees whole — pūriri, tawa, karaka, miro. They carry those seeds through the forest and deposit them far from the parent tree. Without kererū, the regeneration of these species slows or stops.
Possums threaten kererū from two directions at once. They eat eggs and chicks directly, and they strip the berries and foliage the birds need to build condition for breeding. Research has confirmed that where possums and rats are controlled, kererū populations respond. At Whenuakite on the Coromandel, after possum control began in 2000, kererū numbers exploded — observers went from counting around 20 birds to over 200 in a single mob within a few years. In Wellington, kererū sightings rose 350% following Zealandia's predator control programme.
Tūī — The Comeback Bird
The tūī is the good news story in this list. Instantly recognisable — iridescent blue-green plumage, distinctive white throat feathers, and a song that ranges from pure bell-like notes to mechanical clicks and whistles — tūī have responded strongly to predator control and are returning to urban areas across the country.
They're pollinators as much as birds, moving pollen between flax, kōwhai, rewarewa, and other native plants as they feed on nectar. Their recovery in places where pest control is sustained has had measurable flow-on effects for the plants they pollinate. Wellington has seen an eight-fold increase in tūī numbers since city-wide pest control began. In Hamilton, predator control in surrounding forests brought tūī back to the city year-round, where they had previously only visited outside the nesting season. The pattern is consistent across the country: where possums and rats are managed, tūī return.
If you've noticed more tūī in your neighbourhood in recent years, there's a good chance a trapping programme nearby is the reason.
Why This Matters for Possum Merino
The fur used in possum merino knitwear comes from trappers working across New Zealand, including on Department of Conservation land. These trappers are part of the same network of pest control that gives kiwi chicks a fighting chance, that has brought kōkako back from the edge, that returns kererū and tūī to forests stripped bare by browsing and raiding possums.
No possums are farmed for their fur. The fibre is a by-product of conservation work that must happen regardless. Using it creates economic value that helps sustain that work over the long term — and ensures nothing from it is wasted.
It's a genuinely unusual thing: a luxury textile whose existence actively benefits wild ecosystems. Learn more about the conservation story behind possum merino on our Conservation Impact page, or read about what makes possum fibre so remarkable.
For four lesser-known species possums threaten, read Beyond the kiwi.
Common questions
What does possum merino have to do with saving native birds?
Possum merino knitwear is made from brushtail possum fur collected as a by-product of conservation pest control in New Zealand. The same trapping operations that remove possums from native forests protect birds including kiwi, kōkako, kererū, and tūī — species recovering in areas where predators are actively managed. Commercial demand for the fibre creates economic value from what would otherwise be waste, helping sustain trapping programmes over the long term.
How does predator control affect kiwi survival rates?
Predator control dramatically increases kiwi chick survival, from under 5% in unmanaged forest to 50–60% in actively managed areas. Without control, the New Zealand kiwi population declines at around 2% per year — roughly 20 birds lost every week. On the Coromandel Peninsula, sustained possum and predator trapping has seen local kiwi numbers doubling every decade.
How has the kōkako population recovered in New Zealand?
The North Island kōkako population has increased from around 330 pairs in the late 1990s to more than 2,300 pairs by 2023. Predator control programmes at sites including the Hunua Ranges and Pureora Forest Park have helped reverse decades of decline. As a result, the species' conservation status has improved from Threatened to Nationally Increasing.
Why are kererū important to New Zealand forests?
Kererū — New Zealand's native wood pigeon — are one of the only birds remaining large enough to swallow and disperse the seeds of large native trees including pūriri, tawa, karaka, and miro. Without them, regeneration of these species slows or stops. Following possum control at Whenuakite on the Coromandel, kererū numbers grew from around 20 birds to over 200. Wellington recorded a 350% increase in sightings after Zealandia's predator control programme began.
Are tūī recovering in New Zealand?
Yes. Tūī populations have responded strongly to predator control programmes that include possum management. Wellington recorded an eight-fold increase in tūī numbers following sustained pest control efforts, and in Hamilton, tūī returned to the city year-round after predator control in surrounding forests. Possum merino fibre comes from animals removed through these same predator control programmes, linking the fibre industry to the conservation efforts helping tūī recover.
Sources
- Department of Conservation. "Kiwi facts." doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/kiwi/facts
- Save the Kiwi. "Predator control." savethekiwi.nz
- Department of Conservation. "Milestone for kōkako as population soars." Media release, March 2021. doc.govt.nz
- New Zealand Birds Online. "North Island kōkako." nzbirdsonline.org.nz
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand. "50 dollar banknote." rbnz.govt.nz
- Predator Free NZ Trust. "Kiwi are thriving — and so are kererū." predatorfreenz.org
- Department of Conservation. "Tūī." doc.govt.nz/tui
- Fitzgerald N. et al. "Increasing urban abundance of tūī by pest mammal control in surrounding forests." Notornis 68(2), 2021. birdsnz.org.nz
Keep reading
Pua o te rēinga: The flower possums eat before it can seed
A flower with no leaves, pollinated by a bat, and eaten by possums before it can seed
Beyond the kiwi: Four species you should know about
Four lesser-known species possums threaten in New Zealand — and the conservation work protecting them
Is Possum Merino Ethical? The Full Story
The ethics of possum merino — pest control, cashmere, synthetics, and what we don't gloss over
