Evaluating methods for controlling feral cats that minimise non-target impacts at Taunton National Park (Scientific)

Abstract

Feral Cat (Felis catus) (cat) is a predator of the Bridled Nail-Tailed Wallaby (BNTW) (Onychogalea frenata) living at Taunton National Park (Scientific) (Taunton). The aim of this study was to determine if traps and poison baits could be used to control feral cats without impacting non-target species at Taunton. The techniques trialled included poison fresh meat baits and several types of traps presented in different ways and with various lures. Thirty-one percent of fresh meat baits was taken during bait uptake trials; corvids removed 40% of these and dogs removed 16%. Cats were not detected, on camera traps, taking a bait. The elevated soft-jaw traps (81 trap nights/cat) and single-entry cage traps (98 trap nights/cat) were found to be the most successful of all the trap types trialled and had low amounts of by-catch. Other trap types trialled took more than 166 trap nights to catch a cat. The elevated soft-jaw trap configurations had the lowest amount of by-catch (avg. 0.33%), and the log trap had the highest amount of by-catch (1%). Ground-set traps successfully trapped cats (305 trap nights/cat) but caught more by-catch (0.9%) compared to the elevated soft-jaw trap types and most wallabies caught in these traps had to be euthanised.