Australia is finalising an updated battle strategy for its war on feral cats, one of the biggest drivers of native mammal extinctions on the continent, but experts say how the plan is implemented and the funding behind it will be the key to victory.

Feral cats have a massive impact on native animals in Australia, with the government estimating they are responsible for the deaths of 1.5 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles, and frogs, and 1.1 billion invertebrates each year.

They contribute to two-thirds of Australia’s mammal extinctions and are a menace to over 200 threatened species.

Last month, the federal government announced A$60 million ($40 mln) would go towards 55 existing projects nationwide to stem the damage felines cause.

“Since declaring war on feral cats, we are mobilising artificial intelligence, cat trap technology and strong community action to combat this invasive pest and safeguard Australia’s biodiversity,” Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek said at the time.

Meanwhile, it is considering feedback on the draft Feral Cat Threat Abatement plan, which is expected to be finalised later this year.

The draft plan was put out for consultation last year, designed to be an update from the previous abatement plan published in 2015.

It comes as the Australian government has vowed to “work towards” no new plant or animal extinctions in the country.

“If you want no more extinctions, then cats have to one of the things you focus on, and clearly the government needs to do more,” Andrew Cox, CEO of advocacy group the Invasive Species Council, told Carbon Pulse on the sidelines of the Global Nature Positive Summit on Wednesday.

Professor Sarah Legge at Australia National University and a councillor at NGO the Biodiversity Council, one of the lead authors of the updated draft plan, said that unlike previous approaches, the plan is less focused on eradicating the cats themselves.

“We’ve tried to turn the focus on it’s head in the plan, so instead of focusing on reducing cat numbers, we’re putting a focus on what it is we’re trying to protect from cats, and what do those particular species need in the way of protection,” she told Carbon Pulse.

The plan adopts different tactics for different species, depending on their vulnerability.

For more vulnerable species that need to be separated from cats completely, like the Mala, or stick-nest rat, strategies will involve fencing large areas, or placing populations on offshore islands where cats can’t reach them, Legge explained.

“Then you can work down through different groups of animals that need ever-reducing amounts of protection from cats, and that way you’re just being a bit smarter about what the cat control is, where it is, and what it’s designed to achieve.”

For less vulnerable species, Legge said the focus turns back to cat culls, with cat-specific poison baits and intensive trapping and shooting campaigns being the order of the day, as well as managing habitats to make it more difficult for cats to hunt.

NOT SO FLUFFY

While most of the plan focuses on feral cats, Legge said the updated strategy recognises the connection between the feral cat population and the domestic cat population for the first time.

Asked why this link had not been drawn before, Legge said she suspected there is a “nervousness” from governments about getting the public offside if they come out too strongly about pet cats.

“But there’s been a long conversation, going for about 10 years now, where the Australian public are actually already very aware of the impacts of cats and the need to manage them, much more so than other countries,” she said.

“So when we were drafting this plan, we collectively felt we were at the stage where we could draw pet cats into the conversation, without creating unhelpful backlash.”

Legge noted the problem of domestic cats is much more easily solved then feral cats, given it is just about educating their owners to keep them contained.

COORDINATION

A spokesperson for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment, and Water (DCCEEW) told Carbon Pulse Wednesday the plan aims to be finalised with state and territory governments by the end of 2024.

“Addressing the threats posed by feral cats requires a collective effort and mobilisation of the resources across all levels of government, with landholders, communities, Traditional Owners, non-government organisations and the private sector,” the spokesperson said.

In November last year, state and territory environment ministers committed in principle to sign up to the updated feral cat threat abatement plan, once it is finalised.

Cox said that coordination with the state and territory governments will be crucial to the abatement plans success.

He said this buy-in will help ensure necessary state, territory, and local government rules on feral cat eradication could be updated and coordinated in a unified way, while noting some aspects will differ, based on the states’ different circumstances.

“This national plan, if it’s signed off by the states, could standardise that approach and lift the bar and head towards cat containment,” he said.

“I’m optimistic we can make inroads, provided [the federal government] can implement the plan, that’s going to be the real test, implementation.”

He noted previous plans had been put together by governments, only for it not to be implemented, or poorly resourced, or actions were implemented that contradicted those plans.

“The real proof is in that part of it. [The current draft plan is] a good science-based plan, it’s heading in the right direction, it’s just a matter of how it gets implemented.”

Funding is also key to its success, Cox noted, with the Invasive Species Council previously saying an additional A$60 mln over the next four years at least would be needed if the plan is to be properly implemented, but said the government’s commitments so far were “a good start”.

“We don’t want to dismiss that, it’s certainly a big improvement from the Coalition government, which would spend a A$500,000 here and there, but didn’t follow it up with a long term programme,” he said.

ANU’s Legge said the funding needed for the plan to succeed is “quite a lot more” than the government’s current commitment, but noted it will also likely to be sourced from state governments and NGO fundraising efforts.

“The plan makes it clear that to be successful, that actions needed to be funded, and the actions in the plan are prioritised … The plan will help them direct where that funding should go, but threat abatement plans don’t come with any pledge of funding, they never have, so that’s not unusual,” she said.

There has been around 1,600 responses to the government’s consultation process on the draft plan, but Legge said there are other threats to biodiversity beyond cats that Australia needs to to address.

“We have to keep our eyes open to the other big threats, the climate, all these things, they’re all important, so it’s not just about cats, it’s about many things,” she said.

By Mark Tilly in Sydney – mark@carbon-pulse.com

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