Our friend Philip McKibbin has created an exciting website designed to engage with New Zealanders and the animals they share their islands with.
The website is called Animals Inbox.
It presents messages written on behalf of the animals of Aotearoa New Zealand, and readers are invited to write back. The project aims to promote critical thinking around our treatment of animals. It was established with a grant from the Australasian Animal Studies Association.
When you visit the site you’ll see a number of animals you can write to, such as Sylvia the Stoat:
Stoats, by the way, are not native to New Zealand and have predated on native birds, like the kiwi — making the stoat a much-vilified animal. So it’s nice to meet Sylvia here and witness her struggles. Ironically, stoats were introduced to New Zealand to control the rat and rabbit populations.
If you have time, check out Animals Inbox.
About the creator: Philip McKibbin is a writer of Pākehā (NZ European) and Māori (Kāi Tahu) descent. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Multispecies Justice at the University of Sydney.