Are there endangered animals in New Zealand?
New Zealand has many endangered species.Introduced animals such as rats, rabbits, possums, weasels, stoats and ferrets have devastated our our natural wildlife populations through predation, destruction of habitat and competition for food. Our flightless birds such as the kiwi, kakapo and takahe have proven particularly vulnerable. the Tuatara, a ground dwelling lizard known as a ‘living fossil’ because it has remained relatively unchanged since the time of dinosaurs is also threatened. Many of our endangered species can only be found on isolated off-shore islands that have been cleared of these introduced species.
