Carolyn M. King completed a DPhil on the ecology of British weasels in 1971, then moved to New Zealand to join the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research's Ecology Division as a scientist specialising in introduced predators. She edited the first edition of The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals in 1990, and the second in 2005. She taught zoology and conservation biology at Waikato University until 2018, where she continues writing full time as an Adjunct Professor. David M. Forsyth is a Senior Research Scientist at the NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange, NSW, Australia. In 1997 he completed his PhD on the ecology and managementof Himalayan tahr and Alpine chamois in New Zealand's Southern Alps. Subsequently he has worked as a researcher in Canada, New Zealand and, since 2002, Australia. He maintains an active involvement in New Zealand mammalogy through collaborations with the Department of Conservation and Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research.