Several years ago, as part of some research I was doing to rebutt the feral ferrets argument, I took the time and expense to call New Zealand and spoke to someone about the attempt to introduce ferrets into the wild and the resulting impact the feral colony has had. I was told by this Dept. of Wildlife Management (or some such title) that the attempt to introduce ferrets was considered to be a dismal failure and that it is very unlikely that any of the ferrets released survived. Any existing colony would consist of polecats which were tried after the ferrets failed. Or, at best, a hybrid of the polecats and any surviving ferrets. But this is unlikely because of the time betweeen the releases of the two. It is quite possible this person doesn't know what he is talking about (we know government officials have been known to speak with authority on subjects they have no knowledge of.). However, this is the closest thing to an "official'" government statement I've been able to come up with on the subject. Bottom Line: According to the government of New Zealand they have no feral ferret population. Even though they tried to create one. [FM] [Posted in FML issue 1761]