feral cat control
Feral cats are a major threat to nesting birds like pāteke / brown teal and whio / blue duck in the Abel Tasman, as well as lizards, wētā and other insects.
A feral cat lives in the wild and has little or no human contact. They can have similar colourations to some common, short-haired house cats such as tabby, tortoiseshell or black. But when conditions are favourable they can grow to a much larger size, though they don’t live as long. They can travel long distances. Scientists tracked a feral cat in the South Island high country that covered almost six kilometres in one night.
Feral cats are hard to control as they are intelligent animals. While trapping has been underway at Hadfield Clearing, near the Awaroa inlet since 2015, there has been limited success.
In 2017 pāteke began being released at Hadfield Clearing. To protect these birds during their critical spring nesting period a series of bait stations have been deployed which are periodically baited with PAPP (PredaSTOP for Feral Cats). PAPP was developed specifically for feral cat and stoat control and is seen as an efficient and humane toxin. The bait stations feature a treadle which must be pushed down to access the bait. They can be accessed by cats and possums but not birds like weka.
For more information on feral cat control at Awaroa click here