NZ has only one true indigenous land mammal and that’s a bat, there are two sorts the Lesser short-tailed Bat or pekapeka and a long tailed bat. Although they very like our northern hemisphere bats, they actually catches much of their prey on the ground. Seals and dolphins are common visitors to the shores but mostly it was the land of birds so you can imagine what happened when Westerner’s arrived bringing various predators and voracious eaters with them. Many of the ground birds were wiped out or brought close to extinction. Kiwis and Kakapo are now only seen on predator free islands.
I noticed lots of traps on my walks. Rats, stoats, weasels, hedghogs and possoms are being actively trapped. The intention is to be introduced predator free by 2050.
They also have vast numbers of deer including Red Deer (and I saw a huge dead one on the road side) goats and Feral Pigs which bring in hunters from all over the world.
As for insects, again the invaders are bees and moths and butterflies.
The sand flies are natives and very like the American blackflies and really ferocious. They live mostly on the west coast but in pockets across the island. I decided to read up on them and discovered they have a preference for dark clothes so I already have a wardrobe failure on that front! I think aught to get some antihistamine cream! To build up any kind of immunity I have to be bitten 10,000 times by each species. There are four species here! I have been bitten only 10 times and I think its best avoided all round!
I have already mentioned many of plant Invaders and I wonder if the Maori were poisoned by some of the introduced species when the settlers arrived. For example there are native nightshades here and the berries are not poisonous but the introduced varieties are.
The Travelling Bee 