I am pretty sure that danger to the wildlife was not the only reason
NZ banned ownership of ferrets in NZ.

When it was found that a breeder from the North Island had imported
ferret diseases into the country the ruling was made that people who
owned ferrets could keep them until they passed on but the breeding of
ferrets within NZ was banned from then on. The presence of the disease,
can't remember whether it was ECE or Aleutians, was only brought to
light when people from other countries found they had inadvertently
bought contaminated babies from NZ into their own communities.

NZ had quite a large breeding community in the South Island up until
that time as well and were muddling over what laws to bring in to deal
with the release/abandonment of unwanted pets into the forests, but
this just tipped the decision over the edge.

The sad thing was that, at the time, the North Island had only just set
up their own Ferret Club and we were all looking forward to interacting
with them.

Dianne.

[Posted in FML 7474]