奇妙岛屿 15 - 英语听力

The mammals have finally arrived in force

Australian possums

Imported for their fur two centuries ago

They soon reached plague proportions

Stripping trees of their vegetation

A war is being waged against them

Traps set and poison scattered

And yet they are now far more numerous than the kakapo ever were

A staggering 70 million possums overrun New Zealand's forests

Where a bird failed a mammal has succeeded

But why

The possums were unwitting immigrants

While the kakapo have lived here for millennia

Perfectly adapted to this forest

It's an irony that is by no means unique to the kakapo and the possum

Right across the Pacific similar scenes have been unfolding

Tiny islands off the coast of New Zealand

Are the last refuge for a host of animals

Now vanished from the two main islands

This is Stephens Island