The
Mallee Farmer
Arthur Rylah Institute’s Dr Alan Robley with the Mallee CMA’s Angelo Taglierini at work at Hattah-Kulkyne National Park setting traps.
“We have certainly proved that there are cats in Hattah National Park and once we have finished reviewing the data we will have a clearer idea of potentially how many there might be out there.” While the project has proven the presence of cats in the park, the task of catching them is somewhat more difficult and Mr Thompson said the smaller second part of the project clearly underlined the extent of the challenge. “We came back to 34 of the high-value sites with cat traps – the same as those the councils use, where a cat enters the trap and reaches for a bait on the roof and sets off a trip plate to close the door,” he said. “The traps were checked daily, and for the six weeks the traps were in place we caught six cats – five normal-sized cats and one very large tomcat. “The cats were euthanized” by a vet and the contents of their stomach were removed so we can have them analyzed
to find out exactly what they’ve been eating. “But what we did find is probably what we already knew –it’s difficult to catch wild cats in cages and it’s extremely difficult to catch these feral animals, in particular. “We are looking at revisiting the cage trapping during summer, hopefully when the cats are more food-stressed in the hope of some better results. “But the research is continuing into the development of suitable animal control technologies to deal with feral cats and this research will be helpful in that process.” “These are not suburban moggies gone wild – they are stealth killers and really demonstrates clearly that other control methods will be critical to having success in reducing and controlling their numbers.”
Mr Thompson said ongoing work in Western Australia on potential toxic bait methods of control were of interest, and some of the research in the Hattah-Kulkyne program would be useful in developing the technology further. “The more we can learn about cats and how they behave in the wild, the more effectively we will be able to deal with the problem, and minimize the impact of feral cats in beautiful, pristine and iconic semi-arid Victorian environments such as the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park.”
Find out more
The feral cat program at Hattah-Kulkyne National Park is supported by the Mallee CMA, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme. The program is being delivered by the Mallee CMA and Arthur Rylah Institute, in partnership with Parks Victoria.
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