We ve Got to Kill : Inside New Zealand s Mission to Wipe Out Predators – WSJ

BANKS PENINSULA, New Zealand Armed with a .22-caliber rifle, a GPS tracker and a dog named Scmack, Jason Millichamp set off into the hills here with a license to kill. His mission: find and eliminate brushtail possums, an intruder that eats baby birds and strips vegetation from native trees.

Millichamp, a 59-year-old former helicopter mechanic, is on the front lines of New Zealand s drive to be predator free by 2050. That means eradicating invasive species such as possums, rats and mustelids a group that includes weasels, ferrets and stoats.

Millichamp and Scmack, who can locate possums with his nose, are the mop-up team. They are often deployed to find the last few animals, after most possums in an area have been killed with poison and traps.

It s not an easy job. On their recent expedition at a cattle farm overlooking a picturesque bay, Scmack detected a possum living in a hollow tree on a hillside. By the time Millichamp scrambled up, he couldn t find it.

via www.wsj.com