Control tools : Requirements of tools to control feral cats

Abstract

In 2008, the background document to the ‘Threat abatement plan for predation by feral cats’ (DEWHA 2008) considered the main control techniques for feral cats as trapping, shooting and exclusion fencing. Baiting was recognised as the most cost-effective method for broad-scale control, but was not commonly employed on the Australian mainland, although it had been used successfully in island eradications (Campbell et al. 2011). A sausage bait using 1080, Eradicat, had recently been developed and employed in Western Australia (Algar and Burrows 2004), but there were concerns over its application to the eastern states where native species are less tolerant of 1080 (Johnston et al. 2011). Development of an effective, humane cat-specific toxin and bait was seen as a high priority for feral cat management in Australia (DEWHA 2008). There has been progress on this front with development of the Curiosity bait using PAPP as a toxin (Johnston et al. 2011, Johnston et al. 2012) and other toxin delivery methods (Read 2010, Read et al. 2014). There have also been further applications of Eradicat, including on the mainland (Algar et al. 2013), and other control methods, and there is a better understanding of cat ecology and impacts, which will help improve strategies for their control. A review of control techniques and their application is thus timely.