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A desert is sometimes defined as an area with a rainfall of less than 250mm a year, therefore New Zealand does not have any significant areas of true desert. Some small areas of inland Otago and Canterbury in the South Island do have this low an annual rainfall, but only just.

Introduced wild mammals in these areas are mainly rabbits and hares. There are farmed sheep. As there are no native mammals in New Zealand (other than two types of bat) other animals in these areas are birds (such as the Australasian Harrier), insects and reptiles.

One reason for the misconception that New Zealand has desert is the name for one of the State highways in the central North Island being the Desert Road.

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11y ago

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