Authorities have kicked it up a notch in their fight against an invasive threat that continues to harm billions of native animals each year by deploying devices into the bush that use “lasers and AI cameras”.
More than 1.5 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs are killed every year by feral cats, and stopping the destruction continues to be a challenge for all levels of government.
However, in a breakthrough, government agencies have recently introduced Felixers — a device that determines when a cat is passing in the bush before shooting a toxin at it. And they’re proving successful.
“It uses sensors with lasers and an AI camera to determine the shape and size of what’s passing, so it’s not a kangaroo or a wombat or a person,” Nathan Freeman, General Manager of manufacturer Thylation, told Yahoo News. “Once it determines it’s a cat, it then shoots a gel cartridge of a plant-derived toxin at it.
“They’re natural groomers, so they lick it off, and within hours it goes into their systems and they pass,” he said. As the device uses “sophisticated” AI technology, it is able to gather data which informs the organisation on wildlife numbers and tracks their movements.
‘Thousands’ of feral cats killed in new innovative approach
There are roughly 400 of the devices active across Australia, “from the heat of the far north to the cold and wet regions of the south”, Freeman said. They’ve proved successful in the three years they’ve been used by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW), with “thousands” of cats being effectively removed.
“They’re a very effective tool, and it allows us to manage cats in a different way,” Gillian Basnett from CISS said, explaining the devices are used alongside other management strategies like traps and firearms. “They won’t be enough, but they’re another tool in the toolbox that is increasing our capacity to manage cats. They’ve been successful in addressing the issue.”
Feral cats kill more than 1.5 billion native animals every year in Australia. Source: Australian Wildlife Conservancy
Each device costs the DCCEEW $1,000 per month to lease. Freeman says they can be an efficient tool as they don’t require excessive man-hours to catch the cats.
“It’s a 24/7 ecologist and an eradication program, because unlike if the person or shooter is out in the field, you don’t need to pay [for long hours],” Freeman said.
The DCCEEW Threatened Species Commissioner Dr Fiona Fraser praised the program involving Felixers on social media this week. In July, she chaired a meeting of the Feral Cat Taskforce and said it was “inspiring to hear about all the innovative work going on around Australia to protect our unique native animals from the threat of feral cats.“
More than 200 species threatened due to cat predation
The DCCEEW told Yahoo News that cats not only threaten more than 200 native species but have also contributed to the extinction of 20 already.
“They are a major cause of decline for many land-based threatened animals such as the bilby, bandicoot, bettong and numbat,” a DCCEEW spokesperson said.
The Felixers are part of the department’s Threatened Species Action Plan that outlines how authorities aim to protect, manage and restore vulnerable native species. Cats are particularly destructive as their saliva carries harmful bacteria which easily inflicts infection on their prey, so if the animal doesn’t die immediately from an attack or even manages to escape, it will likely die from infection.
Yahoo News has reported on this issue many times, highlighting how authorities are trying to minimise the impact that pet cats have on native wildlife by introducing containment laws and responsible pet ownership guidelines.
The ACT has the strictest cat containment laws in the country after passing legislation in 2022 that prohibits all cats born after 1st of July 2022 from roaming in public areas, and over half of Victorian councils have enforced cat curfews, like the City of Greater Bendigo.
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