Possums are running riot in New Zealand more than 150 years after they were introduced from Australia.
An estimated 70 million brush-tailed possums are munching their way through the country's forests, competing for food with native animals, endangering rare ground-dwelling birds by eating their eggs and spreading tuberculosis to cattle.
Now New Zealanders believe they have come up with a winning formula for reducing possum numbers and earning much-needed foreign exchange at the same time.
A growing number of companies are promoting the export of possum fur mixed with wool, a high-grade, high-value textile which is soft, warm and light.
Known variously as 'merino mink' or 'possum merino', it could be the next big thing to grace the catwalks.
'Possum fur is far superior to wool because the fibres are hollow, like those of a polar bear,' said Brent Connolly, whose New Zealand Possum Products Web site is at the forefront of efforts to market the quality knit.
In New Zealand, possums have no natural predators. A highly adaptable, nocturnal animal, they have now spread to about 90 per cent of the country and are regarded by conservationists as a serious threat to the environment.