{"id":154899,"date":"2025-11-26T16:17:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T16:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/154899\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T16:17:14","slug":"new-zealand-says-its-going-to-eradicate-feral-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/154899\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand says it\u2019s going to eradicate feral cats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n New Zealand<\/a> has announced plans to eradicate feral cats<\/a> by 2050, as part of efforts to protect the country\u2019s biodiversity.\n <\/p>\n

\n Speaking to Radio New Zealand on Thursday, conservation minister Tama Potaka said that feral cats are \u201cstone cold killers\u201d and would be added to the country\u2019s Predator Free 2050 list, which aims to eradicate those animals that have a negative impact on species such as birds, bats, lizards and insects.\n <\/p>\n

\n Cats had previously been excluded from the list, which includes species such as stoats, ferrets, weasels, rats and possums, but Potaka used the interview to announce a U-turn.\n <\/p>\n

\n He defined a feral cat as a wild animal that lives independently of humans. \u201cThey kill to survive,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Among the options on the table to eradicate feral cats are poisoned sausage bait and a type of poison that would be sprayed from a device on a tree as they walk past, Potaka said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn order to boost biodiversity, to boost heritage landscape and to boost the type of place we want to see, we\u2019ve got to get rid of some of these killers,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n In a statement published Friday, Potaka added more details to the plan.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe know people want their local reserves, beaches and bush tracks to be full of birds, not predators,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cFeral cats are now found across Aotearoa New Zealand, from farms to forests, and they put huge pressure on native birds, bats, lizards and insects,\u201d added Potaka.\n <\/p>\n

\n The ministry said that more than 100 short-tailed bats were killed in a single week by feral cats near the town of Ohakune on the North Island, and they have also contributed to the near-extinction of the southern dotterel on Stewart Island.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey also spread toxoplasmosis, which harms dolphins, affects people, and costs farmers through lost stock,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The statement also revealed that more than 90% of the nearly 3,400 submissions received from the public as part of a recent consultation strategy backed improved feral cat management.\n <\/p>\n

\n Jessi Morgan, chief executive of the Predator Free New Zealand Trust, a conservation organization that works to protect the country\u2019s native species, hailed the decision in an opinion piece published in local media outlet The Post<\/a> on Friday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn June, when the Department of Conservation opened the Predator Free 2050 strategy up for consultation, they asked the public about feral cats,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe response was loud and clear: feral cats belong on the target list.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Officials will release more details on the plan in an updated version of the Predator Free 2050 Strategy, which is scheduled for release in March.\n <\/p>\n

\n The statement also addressed concerns around the impact on pet cats.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cNew Zealand is full of proud cat owners, and domestic pets are not part of this Predator Free target,\u201d Potaka said in the statement.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cResponsible ownership, desexing, microchipping, and keeping cats away from wildlife, remains an important part of the solution.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n EDITOR\u2019S NOTE:\u00a0 Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex\u2019s Perpetual Planet Initiative<\/a> has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand has announced plans to eradicate feral cats by 2050, as part of efforts to protect the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":{"0":"post-154899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}