Shooting Feral Cats (Trigger Warning).

[Zardnaar]

Article about feral cats hitting plague proportions in Canterbury.

Giant feral cats are 'absolute muscle' from dining out on the best native wildlife

Feral cats weighing up to 10kg are at "plague" levels in Canterbury, with native birds standing little chance against such efficient killers.

i.stuff.co.nz

These cats are fill on feral not fluffy. Big ones can exceed 10kg (22 pounds) in weight.

They prey on everything small. In NZ a lot of birds and lizards evolved without mammal based predators. Things like the kiwi evolved with aerial predators in mind being flightless and using the cover of thick bushes.

Anyway hunters and doc shoot them or track them. I like cats as well but I value our native species over the ferals right to exist. TNR won't work because they will still prey on native species.

Outside cities and towns there's just not the people to run a TNR program anyway.

Rural Canterbury includes the foot hills of the southern Alps. If you watched the LotR movies Edoras was filmed there.

Kinda looks like this.

Very rugged back country. Keas live there only alpine parrot in the world. Cats prey on them. Hill country mountains 2-3km+ in height.

On the Coast Canterbury is flat. One hours drive you can be in ski field country.

Anyway CFCs thoughts on killing cats. Here they are an introduced pest. Ecosanctuary and offshore islands have been used by DoC to try and save various species from cats, stoats etc.

Documentary pt 1. Simply titled loss.

 

[Broken_Erika]

My cat is like 22 pounds.......
But feral cats where they don't belong need to be taken care of..........

 

[Zardnaar]

My cat is like 22 pounds.......
But feral cats where they don't belong need to be taken care of..........

You cats probably 22 pounds of erm fluff.

Ferals are muscle.

 

[Broken_Erika]

My cat is solid fatness....He's not allowed outside. He'd just get himself run over by a car......

 

[Farm Boy]

Husbandry isn't all fun.

I assume mobilizing for eradication is pointless, do you know how many/how much of the population they're trying to destroy? Also, is it at least tolerable eating or pelting? Or is it all wasted?

 

[emzie]

Hi! I'm a crazy cat lady. Ha-ha. Seriously. I have 5. But there's nothing wrong with culling an invasive species. It should be done as humanely as possible, of course.

 

[Zardnaar]

Husbandry isn't all fun.

I assume mobilizing for eradication is pointless, do you know how many/how much of the population they're trying to destroy? Also, is it at least tolerable eating or pelting? Or is it all wasted?

They only go for eradication in specific areas. Generally bislands and ecosanctuary's.

It's to hard/inefficient/impossible/expensive in some areas. Basically you would need to have permanent teams of hunters with helicopters etc and they haven't done that since the 70's vs deer.

They kind of do that for the Easter bunny hunts where team of hunters enter an area and anything invasive is fair game mostly rabbits but deer, cats, dogs, stoats etc are all fair game.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Hi! I'm a crazy cat lady. Ha-ha. Seriously. I have 5. But there's nothing wrong with culling an invasive species. It should be done as humanely as possible, of course.

Sterilization.

 

[Zardnaar]

Sterilization.

They still prey on vulnerable species here.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Well then, kitties must die.

 

[Zardnaar]

Well then, kitties must die.

Pretty much.

Estimated numbers. Feral cats 2 million plus.

Kea. 3000.

I don't expect you to watch this but if interested.

 

[El_Machinae]

Unless you introduce a gene driver to eventually cause extinction, it's very expensive to capture and then surgically treat and then release. You just don't have the resources. The same with wild pigs in North America. And the gene driver technology hasn't been tried yet

 

[Zardnaar]

Unless you introduce a gene driver to eventually cause extinction, it's very expensive to capture and then surgically treat and then release. You just don't have the resources. The same with wild pigs in North America. And the gene driver technology hasn't been tried yet

Release isn't an option either outside of a few urban areas I suppose.

 

[E.man]

We have the same issues in Oz.
Yeah, they get big.
I live in a 'Cat Containment' suburb and now every 'new ' Cat in the ACT has to be contained indoors or in a run; same rules as dogs.

 

[Zardnaar]

We have the same issues in Oz.
Yeah, they get big.
I live in a 'Cat Containment' suburb and now every 'new ' Cat in the ACT has to be contained indoors or in a run; same rules as dogs.

We don't have that rule we're probably a bit to blase.

 

[E.man]

We don't have that rule we're probably a bit to blase.

It's only in the ACT because we have a Green/Left govt and the full extent has just come in.

We're still battling something called 'The Street cat Alliance ' that goes and feeds in town ferals .... because "kitties".

Feral dogs are a big issue in 'communities' (read Aboriginal Towns) where it's basically unsafe to walk around. Some feral control needs to be enforced there as well.

 

[Zardnaar]

It's only in the ACT because we have a Green/Left govt and the full extent has just come in.

We're still battling something called 'The Street cat Alliance ' that goes and feeds in town ferals .... because "kitties".

Feral dogs are a big issue in 'communities' (read Aboriginal Towns) where it's basically unsafe to walk around. Some feral control needs to be enforced there as well.

Yeah we had a fatality up north to feral dogs.

Apparently a pack has holed up in rugged terrain and treyve tried to thin them out.

 

[EnglishEdward]

Sounds a good opportunity for the military practicing with killer drones.

 

[Zardnaar]

Sounds a good opportunity for the military practicing with killer drones.

NZ bush country is very rough drones won't see jack.

 

[EnglishEdward]

So, equip the drones with infra-red cameras.