Forest and Bird is renewing its call on the Government to ban the sale and keeping of ferrets, after a toddler was savaged in his Palmerston North home on Monday night by a neighbour’s pet ferret.

Kevin Smith, the Society’s Conservation Director, said the Society had previously raised its concerns with the Minister of Conservation.

"These introduced pests are ruthless killers of New Zealand’s native wildlife and one of the reasons for the dramatic decline of species such as the kiwi."

"The Minister has argued that that there would be public resistance to a ban on the ownership of ferrets but the latest attack shows just how unsuitable these animals are as pets and how easily they escape."

Ferrets are the largest of the mustelid species and pose a serious threat to endangered wildlife because they feed on birds and their eggs. They are also Tb vectors as they can contract and spread Tb which is a serious problem for the dairy industry.

Mr Smith said there was a substantial body of scientific evidence on the impacts of ferrets. Forest and Bird also has first hand experience as ferrets were responsible for wiping out a small population of weka Society members had reared and released into the wild near Waihi.

Mr Smith said Forest and Bird urged the Minister to reconsider the issue and to introduce amended regulations under the Wildlife Act banning the pet ferret trade.

"Ferret breeders’ claims that ferrets are easily domesticated and unlikely to escape have been shown by this attack to be unfounded," said Mr Smith.