7 surprising facts you should know about possum framing

June 16, 2023

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In the past few months since I have taken a step back from this blog to focus on completing my PhD (which I have now successfully defended and will share the thesis after the embargo period ends!), ‘facts’ about possums continue to be published by conservation organisations in effort to sway (and/or reinforce) public opinions around the marsupial.  

These posts are always intriguing to me as they constantly reinforce the main arguments my participants discussed in my thesis – so much so that it is at the point where I continuously want to update parts of it to reflect these new, and often infuriatingly propagandistic, examples to show just how entrenched these anti-possum narratives have become. However, if I were to do this, I would be in a constant state of updating that would never end. 

To come back to this blog after a bit of time away, I thought it would be useful to reaffirm some of the key ideas that are entrenched in the possum as ‘pest’ discourse through the examination of a media example that was recently published.  

Examining Conservation Messaging in-Action

The example, available here¹, perfectly emulates the kind of messaging that my thesis focuses on, where it actively desensitises and normalises violence towards possums and other ‘pest’ animals in its use of language and images. Its purpose is to justify the current attitudes towards possums and negate mistreatment towards them. Examining this example allows us to see just how powerful these narratives can be at creating particular stories that are believed as ‘facts’². 

At first glance, there are several key points to address when looking at this article. Firstly, the piece was published by Predator Free NZ, an “independent charitable organisation established to encourage, support and connect New Zealanders in getting involved in the predator free movement”³. While Predator Free NZ is one of the many ‘key players’ in the Predator Free 2050 campaign, there are several others which also play a role in disseminating conservation messaging about the removal of ‘predator’ species (i.e., Predator Free 2050, Forest & Bird, DOC, Zero Invasive Predators, etc.). Knowing this, I prepare myself for what the article will discuss as it is being published by an already known anti-‘pest’ agency.  

Its title, “7 surprising facts you should know about possums” is highly curated to illicit a very particular response from the reader. The words, ‘surprising’ and ‘facts’ together suggest that you, as the reader, will learn something new… something intriguing that will give you pause for thought. The title is paired with an image of an adult possum; staring at the camera as if caught by surprise. Possums, as nocturnal folivores, are not typically found in daylight⁴, so I think to myself that this image choice is also interesting. 

Joan Dunayer, animal advocate and philosopher, argues that the use of deceptive or biased language can further reinforce speciesism to nonhuman animals which plays a role in contributing to the justification and legitimisation of cruelty⁵. Joan Dunayer’s ideas are reiterated by Nik Taylor, who similarly argues that the way we talk about animals ends up influencing how we think about them culturally⁶.

These ideas are illustrated in the article. The first sentence states, “At one point, possums in New Zealand rivalled the sheep population”, but “the brushtail possum population exploded beyond settlers’ wildest dreams (or nightmares) to an estimated peak of 70 million possums in the 1980s, same as sheep” and that “it has taken us more than a hundred years to understand the gravity of the damage they do to our environment”⁷ (para. 2).

While possums do have an impact on the environment, as any living being would, the siloed focus on their specific damage negates any potential benefits that possums give to the environment or, dare I say, the economy (despite me, as an outspoken animal rights activist, reeling at the thought of any form of animal exploitation). The emphasis on the ‘damage’ and ‘gravity’ of this ‘nightmare’ situation sets the tone for the remainder of the piece, which outlines the following seven ‘facts’ about possums¹:

• 1. Possums eat juvenile kea
• 2. Possums don’t like getting wet
• 3. Possums are naturally curious and are attracted to bright colours
• 4. Every night possums eat ~ 21,000 tonnes of vegetation – that’s nearly the weight of Auckland’s Sky Tower
• 5. Possums spread noxious plant species
• 6. In the 90s the iconic New Zealand Christmas tree was under threat from possums
• 7. Possums are the main source and carrier of bovine tuberculosis in New Zealand

As you read through the list of seven ‘facts’, five of the seven directly relate to New Zealand’s national identity, such as kea (an iconic species of native birdlife), the “untamed” wilderness which is so popular with tourists and adventure-seekers, the pōhutukawa (also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree; see below), and, of course, threats to the nation’s lucrative primary industries (namely beef, but also dairy, and lamb). The other two ‘facts’ touch on examining possum behaviours in order to better catch, trap, or kill them. These are still indirectly related to identity as they involve the exploitation of possum bodies to protect these symbols of Kiwiana.  

Kiwiana is regarded as “images that have been adopted as symbols of [New Zealand’s] national identity”, which are marked by images such as kiwi, sheep, kiwi fruit, and even gumboots or jandals⁷. How these symbols are marketed and consumed creates shared identities which brand a space and its people as unique (and therefore valuable because of this uniqueness).   

This protection of symbolic imagery is of particular interest to me here as it underpins the motivations to aggressively frame possums, and other ‘pests’, in the ways that New Zealand mainstream culture has. To understand the motivations behind wanting to remove possums so vehemently, it is important to recognise how the role of identity is one of the underlying motivations why there is such a strong push to remove ‘pests’ such as possums. These efforts are not to protect the intrinsic value of individual native plants or trees, but instead the symbolic benefits they offer. They contribute to making New Zealand unique from the rest of the world.    

his protection of symbolic imagery is of particular interest to me here as it underpins the motivations to aggressively frame possums, and other ‘pests’, in the ways that New Zealand mainstream culture has. To understand the motivations behind wanting to remove possums so vehemently, it is important to recognise how the role of identity is one of the underlying motivations why there is such a strong push to remove ‘pests’ such as possums. These efforts are not to protect the intrinsic value of individual native plants or trees, but instead the symbolic benefits they offer. They contribute to making New Zealand unique from the rest of the world.    

Where to go from here

While these arguments are more developed in the thesis itself, examining how these kinds of articles frame the situation is useful as it can show how certain species are framed as ‘pests’. Understanding the conservation discourse in New Zealand is not as straightforward as it is made to seem. I encourage you, as you read material written about possums or other ‘pests’, to ask yourself some of these questions: 

• Who is presenting this information?  
• What might be motivating the author(s)/editor(s) to write about these animals in this way? 
• What kind of language is being used?
• What kind of imagery is being used?
• Are there gaps in what is being discussed?

This is not an exhaustive list of questions but is useful to consider when looking at material that is produced about possums – or other ‘pests’ for that matter. The framing of speciesism, in this case, is in the form of casual biases that spread (mis)information about possums, while also ignoring the human impacts on the environment. The issue at hand is not easy to solve, but something has got to give.

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REFERENCES

¹ Fenwick, R. (2023, June 6). 7 surprising facts you should know about possums. Predator Free NZ. https://predatorfreenz.org/stories/things-you-should-know/7-surprising-facts-you-should-know-about-possums/

² As readers have yet to have access to my thesis and read my arguments contextually, it is important to offer a disclaimer that I am not advocating completely disregarding protection for native species of plants or animals. My criticism is focused on this incessant desire to remove possums in ways that are cruel and unjust, while also creating a culture amongst New Zealanders that desensitises and normalises violence to young children.

³ Predator Free NZ. (n.d.). About us. (https://predatorfreenz.org/about-us/predator-free-new-zealand-trust/our-mission/

⁴ New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment. (n.d.). Brush-tailed possum. https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/native-animals/native-animal-facts/brush-tailed-possum

⁵ Dunayer, J. (2002). Animal Equality: Language & Liberation. Lantern Books.

⁶ Taylor, N. (2011). Introduction: Thinking About Animals. In N. Taylor & T. Signal (Eds.), Theorizing Animals – Rethinking Humanimal Relations (vol. 11, pp. 1-17). Brill.

⁷ Sands, S., & Beverland, M. (2011). Kiwiana: National identity and consumption. In A. Bradshaw, C. Hackley, & P. Maclaran (Eds.), E-European Advances in Consumer Research (vol. 9), Association for Consumer Research.