Let Them Wear Possum

The Independent reports on NZ’s thriving (and environmentally kosher) possum fur trade. “Elsewhere, designers who work with fur earn the wrath of animal rights activists. But in New Zealand, they are considered national heroes.” Imported from Australia in 1837, the brush-tailed possum population has now reached approximately 70 million. Attempts to eradicate the pest range from the aggressive (DoC-sanctioned 1080 drops) to the whimsical (possum fur bikinis). “I wouldn’t work with anything endangered, it would be against my conscience,” says Teresa Angliss of fashion brand Possum New Zealand. “But this is a national pest, so it’s really appealing. I’m exploiting a commercial demand to help contain an environmental disaster.”