![\"Tasman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/tasman-district-councillor-celia-butler-GEWWHZFZSVAWFMVEP5TXBKMRNM.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNelson Tasman’s approach to cat control is well aligned with the Government\u2019s move to add feral cats to its Predator Free list, council representatives say.<\/p>\n
The region changed several local cat rules last year, including new cats needing to be microchipped, desexed, and registered on the New Zealand Companion Animal Register.<\/p>\n
Last month, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced feral cats would be added to the Predator Free 2050 strategy, saying it would help protect native wildlife.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know people want their local reserves, beaches and bush tracks to be full of birds, not predators.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Government decision came a year after the Nelson and Tasman councils added feral cats to their joint pest management plan for control at specific sites across the region, and each council introduced rules mandating the desexing and microchipping of pet cats.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tasman District councillor Celia Butler said the region had been waiting on national leadership when it updated its cat rules. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2026 certainly validates the steps that we\u2019ve taken,\u201d said Tasman District councillor Celia Butler.<\/p>\n
Butler chaired the councils\u2019 joint pest management committee last term and oversaw the complicated process of adding feral cats to the regional pest plan.<\/p>\n
As the councils expanded their rules, there had been discussions around Government leadership for cat management.<\/p>\n
She said the specific desire had been for an Act that mandated the microchipping of pet cats.<\/p>\n
Mandatory microchipping was considered a key step in combatting feral cats to ensure companion cats weren\u2019t harmed.<\/p>\n
The desexing requirement was also hoped to reduce the number of strays.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a Dog Control Act, which is national legislation, but we don\u2019t have anything to do with cats. That\u2019s something that I think would help to make it easier to deal with feral cats,\u201d Butler said.<\/p>\n
Representatives for the Tasman District and Nelson City Councils separately agreed that feral cats\u2019 inclusion in the strategy will not alter the region\u2019s current site-led control of the pest.<\/p>\n
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The specific locations that were selected for feral cat control were chosen because of their high biodiversity value and because the pest was already being managed on-site.<\/p>\n
\u201cNelson City Council supports but is not bound by Predator Free 2050 and will continue working collaboratively with residents to manage biodiversity in ways that are both practical and appropriate for our district,\u201d highlighted manager science and environment, Clive Appleton.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, in the long term, with better national focus on feral cat control we expect improved technology and standardised operating procedures to come which will support these site-led efforts,\u201d a Tasman District Council spokesperson added.<\/p>\n
They both said that the Government\u2019s change could result in expectations for more wide-reaching feral cat control, but that future efforts would need to balance local community needs and biodiversity value, particularly in urban areas.<\/p>\n
The two councils didn\u2019t monitor the region\u2019s feral cat numbers, but the local population, derived from national estimates, could be around 90,000.<\/p>\n
The Tasman Environmental Trust supported several ecological programmes around the region, including the Battle for the Banded Rail which undertakes some feral cat trapping around the Waimea Inlet.<\/p>\n
![\"Tasman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/tasman-environment-trust-manager-sky-davies-4XMCD5GRMBBF5O4PIZSYXEPBM4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Tasman Environment Trust manager Sky Davies says including feral cats in the Predator Free 2050 strategy will \u201cshine a light\u201d on the impact they have on biodiversity. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n
Trust manager Sky Davies said cats had a \u201cserious impact\u201d on biodiversity, preying on birds and their nests, lizards, bats, and insects.<\/p>\n
She said the changes implemented by the two councils last year were “really important” for the management of the local feral cat population and the Government\u2019s new approach would “shine a light” on the problem feral cats posed.<\/p>\n
“It means that we can manage the cat problem with the right tools, the right science, and the right safeguards in place. It will just help create an environment where there\u2019s some cohesion among the people responsible for managing pests and provide some clearer tools and approaches.”<\/p>\n
\u2013 Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nelson Tasman’s approach to cat control is well aligned with the Government\u2019s move to add feral cats to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1389,273,91,111,43,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-177602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-conservation","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-nelson","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177602","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=177602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}