Mammals of New Zealand

Prior to human settlement, the mammals of New Zealand consisted entirely of several species of bat and several dozen marine mammal species.

Far earlier, during the Miocene, at least one "archaic" terrestrial mammal species is known to have existed, the Saint Bathans mammal.

The Māori brought the kurī (Polynesian Dog) and kiore (Polynesian rat) in about 1250 CE,[1] and Europeans from 1769 onwards brought the pig, mice, two additional species of rats, weasels, stoats, ferrets and possums and many other species, some of which cause conservation problems for indigenous species.

The Māori introduced two species: the kurī (dog) and kiore (Polynesian rat).

European settlers introduced all other mammal species.