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By Ben Donaldson
The purchase of possum furs at the Warkworth Farm Centre every fortnight contributes to a New Zealand industry, which makes $130 million annually.
Dawson Furs located in Whakatane, who have been operational since 1978, are currently chasing an order for just over two tonnes of fur to export to China.
Fur is mixed with merino wool there and processed into garments.
Buyer Gay Hutton, from the Waikato, says the attraction of the fur for clothing is that the fibres are hollow and warm, as discovered by Dawson Furs in the late 1980s. Sellers made a profit of $110 per kg of hand plucked fur and $105 for machine plucked on March 9.
What was sold that day came from as far as the South Island where possums have more fur, according to Kaipara Flats hunter Sarah Thoroughgood.
Gay says the business would like to process more fur in New Zealand but that the market is too small.
Dawson Furs has also branched into the pet food market, mixing possum meat with other ingredients.
Gay also purchases carcasses at Warkworth to be used in the feed, which is sold through a major supermarket chain.
Every two weeks Gay is guaranteed to collect between 300kg and 600kg of bodies from Kaukapakapa, at a price of $1.50 per kg.
She says the price for both fur and bodies can fluctuate.
Warkworth contributes about half of the total weight she buys in Rodney.
“There are a couple of full time hunters, but for the rest of the sellers it’s a hobby, with most of the animals hunted on farms.”
The business has experienced strife in the past. In 1994, their exportation of 400,000 possum skins a year was stopped due to animal rights opposition.
Currently, possum fur sales are legal in New Zealand as confirmed by CITES who have determined which animals can be exploited since 1989. Fur and carcasses can be sold at the Warkworth Farm Centre twice a month.
Info: Gay Hutton 027 6122 933
