First, New Zealand exported Tammar wallabies back to Australia, where they were officially extinct (ha, we were going to cull the bloody pests anyway!).Now there're plans to re-introduce a bumblebee to Britain, where they too are extinct.
The short-haired bumblebee was brought to NZ on the first refrigerated lamb boats of the late 19th Century. It was one of four species introduced to pollinate red clover. But back in Ol' Blighty, farming practises had wiped out the bumblebee by 1988.
This November, NZ researchers will collect queen bees when they emerge from hibernation, captive-rear the next generation and repatriate them to Britain for release next June. In preparation, we're also instructing farmers in Kent on how to recreate bumblebee habitat, by sowing wild flowers and clover on pasture land around the release site.
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