Possum Merino

Brushtail Possum Story

The Brushtail Possum was introduced into New Zealand in the 1850’s. Since its introduction by fur traders this  non native brushtail population has reached staggering proportions largely due to the lack of natural predators that would otherwise maintain an ecological balance which is vital to New Zealand’s future.In brief, this non native species attacks the beloved Kiwi and invades birds nests killing thousands of wild birds. They consume over 21,000 metric tons of vegetation every 24hours.

The approximate population of New Zealand is 4.4million, there are estimated 40 million Brushtail Possums running wild. The need to control the number of Possums in New Zealand to protect the native wildlife, flora and fauna, saw a new long term development of a specialised fibre within the wool industry. This has proved to be highly successful by blending native Fine Merino wool, along with the Possum fibre. This fibre is 55% warmer than Merino wool. By doing this, a superior high quality yarn is created that also contributes very successfully to assist the precious ecology of New Zealand. The Fibre of the Brushtail Possum is hollow, the only other known species that has such fibre is the Polar Bear hence the breathable qualities of this precious yarn.