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New Zealand says it’s going to eradicate feral cats (www.cnn.com)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/world@lemmy.world
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New Zealand has announced plans to eradicate feral cats by 2050, as part of efforts to protect the country’s biodiversity.

Speaking to Radio New Zealand on Thursday, conservation minister Tama Potaka said that feral cats are “stone cold killers” and would be added to the country’s Predator Free 2050 list, which aims to eradicate those animals that have a negative impact on species such as birds, bats, lizards and insects.

Cats had previously been excluded from the list, which includes species such as stoats, ferrets, weasels, rats and possums, but Potaka used the interview to announce a U-turn.

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[–] 125 points 11 months ago (12 children)

Cats are remarkably capable predators, and cat owners are remarkably irresponsible.

Letting your cat be an "outside" cat is bad enough for the environment. Not spaying/neutering said "outside cat" is how we get feral cats everywhere.

That said, I dont love the vague "eradicate feral cats" language. Would greatly prefer a broad spectrum spay/neuter/tag program to naturally reduce their population.

Predator-free NZ was always destined to ruffle some feathers though.

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  • [–] 13 points 11 months ago

    New Zealand has no native predators, and cats are extremely good predators.

    These aren’t house cats that got lost, these are cats that are entirely wild and are now an invasive species. TNR would still decimate the local fauna while waiting for nature to take its course.

    They also can’t be housed like you might do with a house cat turned stray.

    as much as I love house cats, in New Zealand, the feral cats are an ecological apocalypse.

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  • [–] 23 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    I don't think just spaying is enough. It'd have to be capture or even worst case euthanize. Leaving cats and any nonnative predator is especially harsh on local species each second they are in the wild because new zealand is one of the few places with flightless birds like the kakapo, which are critically endangered (just one step away from being extinct in the wild)

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  • [–] -3 points 11 months ago* (3 children)

    Spaying and neutering and releasing is more effective because then they still compete for the same resources, pushing reproduction down. I wonder if they can use that she other methods to get the population down to zero.

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  • [–] 19 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    That's when you are trying to control the population. These are invasive species, worse than that, invasive predators. Eradication and control are two different things.

    Neither of those solves the problem entirely, but an eradication aims to keep the population of invasive species much lower than control. Any amount of invasive predators, especially as effective as feral cats, needs to be controlled.

    Feral cats and pet cats are just two different things, like feral pigs and wild pigs. Even pet cats need to be tightly controlled, every bird a pet cat kills is multiplied in aggregate, these things we love are absolutely brutal.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago* (1 child)

    Yes that's why I said "I wonder if they can use that she and other methods to get the population down to zero." Zero means eradication.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago

    I'm sorry, that's totally fair, I don't mean to sound dickish. They can't hit zero. Australia is a model for how bad invasive cats can get, and the cat is already out of the bag, so to speak. They either target aggressive goals, which are primarily culling mixed with chemical and some limited physical spay/neutering programs. But when you are talking bang for buck, it's really easy to look to culling primarily.

    Spay nueter programs are much more expensive and usually donor funded. You gotta do a lot to an animal to even modestly safely remove it's sex organs, especially females. I wouldn't be surprised if they pop up in NZ, privately funded, in addition to the other programs. Desexing is still is the best way to deal with an active colony with a food source, you are right.

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  • [–] 19 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    As someone who donates significantly to spay/neuter efforts (in the U.S.), these irresponsible people piss me the fuck off. To the extent that I have cut people out of my social circle over the issue.

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

    My fucking neighbors just keep letting their outdoor only cats reproduce and get mad when they meow for kibble. It's the worst. My county has a well funded TNR and last litter program, but they don't give a shit. I've done TNR of at least 8 or 9 cats and they just keep coming.

    These aren't even the completely wild and feral cats or anything (since the shitty neighbors feed them from time to time) although I'm sure their offspring has made some feral cats by now. It's horrible.

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