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Wild possum protein enters the US pet food market

New Zealand brand Zealandia has launched canned pet food in the US featuring possum and wallaby, considered to be invasive pests in New Zealand.

The pet food brand’s canned cat and dog food product range is made with protein most American pet owners will not have come in contact with: brushtail possum and Bennett's wallaby, both classified as invasive species in New Zealand.

The launch, announced in March through the Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC), positions wild-sourced protein from government-regulated culling programmes as a commercially viable ingredient stream for pet food.

“Our approach is simple: nourish pets while contributing to a healthier ecosystem,” Andrew Burch, director of Zealandia Pet Food, said in the press release.

Burch sat down with Ingredients Network to discuss how the supply chain behind these proteins works in practice.

Zealandia turns an invasive pest into protein pet food

The Australian brushtail possum was introduced to New Zealand in 1837 by European settlers seeking to establish a fur trade. However, without natural predators, the possum population expanded to an estimated 50 to 70 million in the 1980s.

Since then, control measures have been implemented, and the numbers have been reduced to around 30 million. The species, however, remains one of the country’s most destructive invasive animals – consuming an estimated 21,000 tonnes of native vegetation per night, and a known vector for bovine tuberculosis, a major threat to the country's dairy, beef, and deer-farming industries.

Zealandia’s model takes the output of licensed culling programmes, including possums and wallabies, and turns them into canned food for cats and dogs.

Hunters based in New Zealand’s north Island supply Zealandia with brushtail possum, while Bennett's wallaby – a smaller-sized cousin to the kangaroo, native to Tasmania and coastal southeastern Australia, which was introduced to the South Island in the 1870’s – is sourced from South Canterbury in the south island.

“Hunters supply chilled or frozen, skin-on, organs in, and paunched [disemboweled],” Burch said.

The primary processor then inspects, skins, and portions the carcass before it moves to the cannery in Gisborne on the east coast of the north island, where it passes through a mechanical deboning machine to remove all bone content.

Ensuring quality control for a wild supply chain

A persistent question for wild-sourced proteins is how to maintain consistent nutritional profiles without the controlled conditions of livestock farming.

Zealandia addresses this by building every recipe on a base formulation of lamb organs, including liver, lung, green tripe, heart, kidney, and plasma.

“This ensures that the taste profile remains constant and allows a dog or cat to be fed a rotational diet,” Burch explained. “We routinely laboratory test our products to ensure quality control.”

Every product carries a Scheduled Identifier (SID) number that maps to its specific production process, enabling the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to verify manufacturing standards for imported goods.

The formulations also comply with the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profiles, as well as New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) standards.

Supply, scale, and nutritional profile of wild-sourced proteins

Unlike farmed livestock, supply from wildlife management programmes fluctuates due to seasonal culling schedules, rather than production demand.

Burch said volume constraints are not an issue for possum and wallaby, given the scale of the invasive species populations in New Zealand, but coordination with hunters is essential.

“We do, however, need to carefully plan with the hunters to ensure their volumes coincide with our manufacturing dates,” he said.

The wild animals are free from antibiotics and artificial growth hormones, something that differentiates them from conventionally farmed proteins.

According to Zealandia Pets, brushtail possum meat is high in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, while wallaby is lean and has an easily digestible profile.

US distribution and positioning in the market

The US range, which also includes beef, chicken, duck, hoki fish, king salmon, lamb, and venison, is available to retailers through Midwest distributor John A. Van Den Bosch and to consumers via Chewy.com.

Zealandia currently operates exclusively as a finished product brand and does not supply these proteins as raw ingredients or offer white-label manufacturing.