If we are going to take a definitive step towards controlling the possum pest in New Zealand, possum has to become a featured meat in New Zealand restaurants. This is the opinion of grill resource editor John Clarke, a long time hunter and chef of game food who has operated in the fishing and hunting guide business as well as in upmarket restaurants.

“You will never completely get rid of possums, however we can actually get the possum numbers down to a viable level if we start featuring them on our menus,” Clarke says.
“Within New Zealand I think possum meat is highly marketable, and extremely so in the tourist industry. Because they are protected everywhere else it can become a feature of our cuisine. Granted there is a problem with all wild food, because we have to be careful to source it from poison-free areas, but if we get better control of 1080 there is huge potential.”
Clarke sees possum as a feature dish, promoted extensively throughout the country. He believes young possums in particular, would be an easy meat to sell to restaurant diners because it is lean and “as delicious as domestic duck. It is not tough and they eat the best food. The potential is enormous. The only issue is to make sure they are butchered properly,” he says.
Clarke’s comments follow those in New Scientist magazine calling for more human consumption of invasive species in an effort to rebalance the environment. The comments came with news that pasture-fed animals, such as sheep and cattle, were one of the most environmentally challenging sources of food, according to new research from Canada.