A new guide has been developed to help agricultural and environmental land managers address the growing threat posed by feral cats.
The Glovebox Guide for the Management of Feral Cats provides information to support the control of feral cat populations in Australia and is now available in both electronic and hardcopy form providing information to support the control of feral cat populations in Australia.
Every day, feral cats take on average a staggering 3.1 million mammals, 1.1 million birds and 1.8 million reptiles.
Feral cats threaten the survival of native species and their impact on the environment has only increased in the wake of the 2019/20 Black Summer Bushfires.
Recent research from the Australian Government’s National Environmental Science Program found that the pest also transmits diseases to other animals including livestock, costing the agricultural industry up to $12 million each year.
The free guide provides information about the impacts of feral cats and lays out tools for land managers to plan their control actions in accordance with their state or territory legislation.
The guide was developed by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions with funding provided from the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment and the South Australian Northern and Yorke Landscape Board through funding from the National Landcare Program.
Threatened Species Commissioner Dr Sally Box welcomed the release of the guide.
“Every year cats have a huge impact on Australian native animals,” Dr Box said.
“Mitigating the threat of invasive species, such as feral cats needs innovative and technical solutions that can be used at scale.
“It also involves supporting the efforts of private landholders, leaseholders and volunteers to manage invasive species on their lands to achieve positive outcomes for biodiversity conservation and primary production.”
Since 2014, more than $32 million in Australian Government funding has been mobilised for projects that have a primary focus on supporting practical, on-ground action and action-based research to reduce the impacts of feral cats.
The guide is the latest in the series of Pest Management Glovebox Guides which includes the management of species such as feral pigs, foxes and rabbits.
The Glovebox Guide for Managing Feral Cats and other pest animal management guides are available to download and order here: https://pestsmart.org.au/pest-