The government of New Zealand has declared [warring / war] on countryside pests. It wants to make the country predator-free by 2050. It has [setting / set] an ambitious target to [eradicate / escalate] all non-native species from the country over the next three [decades / decadence] . New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key says he [intends / intents] to introduce strategies to cull introduced species, especially [predatory / predators] that threaten New Zealand's native birds. He said: "Rats, possums and stoats kill 25 million of our native birds every year, and [pray / prey] on other native species such [as / has] lizards. Along with the rest of our environment, we must do more to protect them." His government has [awards / awarded] $28 million to a company that will help implement [his / this] plans.
Mr Key told reporters: "This is the most [ambitious / ambition] conservation project attempted anywhere in the world, but we [belief / believe] if we all work together as a country, we can [achieve / kerchief] it." It will take the [combed / combined] efforts of the private and public sectors as well as community groups. Few people in New Zealand want more of the country's native birds to become [extinction / extinct] . Since European settlers [arrival / arrived] in the mid-nineteenth century and [brought / bought] with them rats and other predators, New Zealand has lost a huge [variety / various] of birds. These include the bush wren, the laughing owl and the mysterious starling. The country's [nationally / national] bird, the kiwi, is currently under threat. Only five per cent of kiwi [chicks / chucks] survive to adulthood.
