Judy Gilbert has been battling the pest problem on Aotea Great Barrier Island for decades at the Windy Hill Sanctuary.

'Our native species have quite a strong scent and their reflex when they are threatened is to freeze, so for a mammalian predator both those things are really helpful if you are going to be hunting one of our native species.'Ī number of conservationists and trappers spoken to by The Detail refused to go on the record about feral cats, because of the backlash from cat lovers.īut New Zealanders’ views are changing, as community groups involved in pest control, trapping possums, stoats, ferrets and rats start to recognise that feral and dumped cats are undermining a lot of work that they are doing, says Morgan. Jessi Morgan says our native species are particularly vulnerable to feral cats Photo: Supplied/Jessi Morgan

'Our native species aren't equipped to deal with them,' she says. Predator Free New Zealand Trust chief executive Jessi Morgan says they are one of New Zealand's worst ecological problems because of the 'impact a single cat can have'. Some have been caught and rehomed, which is great, but to actually then support re-releasing those animals back out that can't be rehomed is absolutely criminal,' she says. 'They are so feral that they cannot be tamed, you'll get feline AIDS in that population, cats are the one carrier of toxoplasmosis. Orr-Walker, like other conservationists, is frustrated by the growing number of well-meaning but unregulated community groups running the ‘trap-neuter-return' programmes for feral cats and dumped pets.

'Someone has to get to that trap very, very quickly to make sure that whatever is in there is dealt with, either released if it’s a kea, and euthanised humanely if it is a cat or a possum,” she says. When an animal is caught it triggers a signal to the Department of Conservation at St Arnaud.

Tamsin Orr-Walker, from the Kea Conservation Trust Photo: Supplied/Tamsin Orr-Walkerįootage from cameras shows 'constant invasion of these nests by rats, possums and stoats, and then of course we started over the years seeing invasion of feral cats,' Orr-Walker says.Ī network of live-capture cat and possum traps was set up - live because kea can also get caught in the traps.

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