FEDERAL Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has declared war against feral cats – Australia’s latest “environmental disaster” bringing native species to extinction.
The federal government will act against feral (free roaming) cats as part of a new national action plan pitched to save thousands of native species on the brink of extinction.
Cats kill 6,000,000 animals every night and two billion reptiles, birds, and mammals in Australia every year, and are responsible for about two-thirds of the most recent native animal extinctions seen across Australia.
Ms Plibersek said she wanted to see a feral cat-free Australia.
“If we are serious about protecting our precious threatened species, then we have to tackle one of their biggest killers,” she said.
The government will move to save vulnerable species by rolling out a new tool, Felixer, designed to kill feral cats by spraying them with a toxic gel and look at expanding cat-free fenced and island havens.
“We know that people love their domestic cats. While they have to look after them, have to keep them inside, they have to stop them killing wildlife,” she said.
The federal government has already invested $4m to eradicate feral cats from Christmas Island and $2.2m towards the French Island feral cat eradication program. It will seek to develop new cat-killing technologies, including the Felixer cat grooming trap, which was approved by federal authorities for use in June.
On King Island, the stakeholders invested in cat management are King Island Council, King Island Landcare Group (KILG), Cradle Coast NRM (CCNRM, part of Cradle Coast Authority, CCA), and TassieCat, which is funded by the Tasmanian Government.
Biosecurity Tasmania also has a role in cat management as they administer the relevant legislation and the Tasmanian Cat Management Plan.
A King Island feral cat eradication or control program is not currently funded.
The recent Tassie Cat King Island community survey suggested that there is continued support for cat management, and respondents are concerned about the impacts of free-roaming cats, particularly on wildlife.
A lesser-known publicised problem of roaming cats is the spread of toxoplasmosis.
Toxoplasmosis is caused by infection by a parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
All warm-blooded animals are susceptible to toxoplasmosis infection including humans, wildlife, and livestock.
Toxoplasmosis is cat-dependent and is considered rampant in Tasmania, with studies showing that more Tasmanians have antibodies to toxoplasmosis in their bloodstream than mainland residents.
Toxoplasmosis is estimated to cost Australian agriculture $10 million per annum and $76.2m in direct human costs which include medical, residential, therapeutic, and other direct health costs of the disease.
Humans become infected when they ingest oocysts (tiny eggs), which are in the soil and dust in places where cats have defecated, especially sandpits, vegetable gardens or kitty litter.
Humans can also become infected from eating undercooked meat if those farm animals have come into contact with cat-shed oocysts.
The most at risk are the immune-compromised, and pregnant women.
King Island Landcare Group has carried out cat management programs in the past including trapping feral cats and offering reimbursement for desexing services, with the aim of protecting native wildlife.
In 2023, KILG started a new project assisting primary production landholders with feral cat control.
King Island is home to two critically endangered and endemic bird species: the King Island Scrubtit and King Island Brown Thornbill which are vulnerable to cat predation.
As part of Cradle Coast NRM’s efforts to improve habitat and reduce threats to these species, the Cradle Coast regional NRM Committee has funded the lease of four Felixer grooming traps that are being trialled on King Island.
The first stage is a photo-only trial and managed under all relevant legislation and permits and in collaboration with King Island Council and KILG.
KILG is currently providing a small number of cage traps to landholders managing primary production land.
KILG is recording details of trap locations and results and informing landholders of their legal responsibilities.
A collaboration with Deakin University is enabling additional monitoring data to be collected from a network of wildlife cameras across the island to study feral cat population and distribution and a component planned is feral cat stomach analysis using cats trapped by KILG landholders to determine what native species are most vulnerable to cat predation.
Since March 2022, it has been a legal requirement under the Tasmanian Cat Management Act 2009 to desex and microchip any owned cat over the age of four months.
KILG is not currently funded for cat management projects, however, they can lend out cat traps free of charge to anyone in the community.
A trap would come with information on the state and federal legal agencies’ requirements.
This includes that any cat trapped within 1 km of a residential property must be checked for a microchip to ensure they are not a pet.
All cats caught and determined to not be domestic pets, must be euthanised humanely (shot by a licensed shooter or taken to a vet).
“Cat owners can do best for themselves, their cats, and King Island native wildlife by keeping their cats indoors, ensuring they are desexed and having them microchipped and collared,” Landcare said.
“King Island Landcare is not against ownership of household cats but merely wants them to not pose a threat to the overall population of the native King Island species.”