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The New Zealand mum from Wellington has already undergone two surgeries, has stitches running up the side of her arm and will require a skin graft.
Dr Cor Vink, a senior lecturer in entomology at Lincoln university, said that while the threat posed by the spider may be negligible, it is just one of 50 Australians spider species now established in New Zealand, many of whom pose a serious threat to vulnerable and endangered native insects. Vink said more funding and research needed to be directed towards tracking and containing the invasive spider population, because many species go undetected for years before being logged and, in rare cases, contained. Fifty of the 73 introduced spider species in New Zealand originate from Australia, and ...
In places, it remains incredibly lifelike, with hair on its back and thick eyelashes. But it has also sustained damage. It lost its tusks and part of its trunk in the earthquakes, and more recently a possum was discovered nesting in its straw stuffing. JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/Stuff The elephant in the attic. The animal's skin was shipped from France to New Zealand in 1876. Those old enough may remember seeing the male Asian elephant on display alongside other large mammals. Due to a lack of space, it was relocated to the “mammal attic” in the mid-90s – where it cannot now be removed, be...