One thing that the article fails to mention, and some comments here don't seem to understand, is that Environmental organisations such as Greenpeace NZ sanction the fur trade in some NZ mammals (eg. the possum) as they are regarded as such a destructive pest.
My family has a high country farm in the south of the South Island and it used to be overrun with rabbits. Not cute; more like a biblical plague as there are no predators (aside from the occasional hawk). I recall driving up the farm road and having rabbits part in front of me like water. Crazy numbers.
Don't mistake a cavalier attitude to possums/rabbits/stoats/australians for lack of civilisation. It's just a different set of circumstances than what you may have experienced.
Irrespective of your opinion on the complicated topic of abortion wouldn't you agree that contraceptives exemplify a more civilized approach to birth control? Maybe a bad analogy, yes but shouldn't we primarily look for solutions which prevent suffering in the first place?
My family has a high country farm in the south of the South Island and it used to be overrun with rabbits. Not cute; more like a biblical plague as there are no predators (aside from the occasional hawk). I recall driving up the farm road and having rabbits part in front of me like water. Crazy numbers.
Don't mistake a cavalier attitude to possums/rabbits/stoats/australians for lack of civilisation. It's just a different set of circumstances than what you may have experienced.