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Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program

Once complete, the Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island will be the largest human-inhabited feral cat-free area anywhere in the world.

The Kangaroo Island Landscape Board is working with landholders, community members, government, conservation organisations and funding partners to eradicate feral cats from the 38,400-hectare Dudley Peninsula.

Nearly 2,000 feral cats have been removed from the landscape since the program began in 2020. With nearly $4 million in completion funding now secured, the program is moving through its final operational phases towards eradication and proof of absence.

This nationally significant program is demonstrating how skilled practitioners, science, community participation and modern technology can make landscape-scale eradication possible.

On this page:

The pathway to a feral cat-free Dudley Peninsula

The expanded eradication team is undertaking an intensive knockdown in 2026, aiming to remove more than 95 per cent of the feral cats remaining on the Dudley Peninsula.

As the population declines, the program will move through three increasingly targeted phases:

  • 2026 — intensive knockdown: deliver landscape-scale control across the Dudley Peninsula.
  • 2027 — targeted removal: locate and remove individual cats using intensive surveillance, skilled personnel and specialised tools.
  • 2028–2029 — proof of absence: undertake at least 24 months of systematic monitoring to establish that feral cats are no longer present.
  • 2030 — program completion: finalise the eradication program based on the evidence collected during proof-of-absence monitoring.

The goal is not simply to reduce cat numbers. It is to remove every feral cat and build the scientific evidence needed to confirm that the Dudley Peninsula is feral cat free

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program
Monthly feral cat detection index (blue line) and monthly camera trap nights (green line) between May 2021 and September 2025. Winter trapping across the whole of the Dudley Peninsula started in 2022. In 2023, Celium trap monitoring technology was partially deployed to increase efficiency and the number of traps that could be managed. Celium was deployed across the entire Dudley Peninsula in 2024. The scale and intensity of winter trapping in 2024 and 2025 corresponded to the largest reduction in monthly feral cat detection indexes and the lowest in the program’s history.

Measuring progress

Eradication programs become more difficult as target animal numbers decline. The remaining cats are more scattered, may avoid particular traps and can require different combinations of surveillance, technology, field knowledge and patience.

The program uses several sources of information to assess progress, including:

  • Camera monitoring to establish population trends and identify areas or individuals to be targeted for control
  • Monitoring using thermal equipment and detection dogs to increase probability of detection and removal
  • Control tool effort and catch rates to understand which tools are effective and in what circumstances
  • community and landholder reports
  • An established proof-of-absence framework to provide sufficient confidence to confirm eradication.

Program progress updates will present results, how the information was collected and what it means for the current phase of the program.

Why eradicate feral cats?

Feral cats are the apex predator on Kangaroo Island. They prey on native mammals, birds and reptiles and spread diseases that affect wildlife and livestock.

Removing feral cats will create a permanent safe haven for threatened and vulnerable species, including:

  • southern brown bandicoots
  • Kangaroo Island echidnas
  • bush stone-curlews
  • hooded plovers
  • little penguins
  • other small mammals, reptiles and ground-dwelling birds.

Feral cats can also spread Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis parasites, which can affect sheep health, production and carcase quality. Eradication is expected to reduce the exposure of livestock to cat-borne diseases and provide long-term benefits for primary producers.

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program
Six New Holland honeyeaters, small native birds to KI, were found the stomach of feral cat captured by a landholder and dissected by the KILB team during the 2024 winter trapping blitz.

Helping wildlife withstand other threats

Following confirmed detections of H5 bird flu on Kangaroo Island, reducing other pressures on native wildlife has become even more important.

Feral cat eradication will not prevent bird flu, but it can help native wildlife populations remain more resilient by removing a major source of predation. Ground-dwelling birds such as bush stone-curlews are particularly vulnerable to feral cats.

For official information and updates about bird flu in South Australia, visit birdflu.sa.gov.au.

Skilled people behind the program

Technology alone cannot deliver eradication. The program depends on skilled practitioners who understand animal behaviour, surveillance, trapping, data interpretation, biosecurity and the Dudley Peninsula landscape.

Field staff work across private properties, roadsides, conservation areas, farmland and difficult coastal terrain. As the program approaches the final cats, practitioners must interpret multiple sources of evidence and select the most appropriate tools for each individual animal and location.

The team’s cat detection dogs are an important part of this work. The dogs and their handlers can search for cats and signs such as tracks and scat in areas where cameras, landholders or community members have reported activity. They will become increasingly important during targeted removal and proof-of-absence monitoring.

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program

Technology and innovation at landscape scale

The Dudley Peninsula program combines proven field methods with technology that allows the team to efficiently monitor and respond across a large and complex landscape.

The program’s tools include:

  • more than 270 4G-connected cameras supported by artificial intelligence
  • remotely monitored cage and soft-jaw leg-hold traps that notify staff when a trap has been triggered
  • thermal drones and vehicle-mounted thermal optics
  • trained cat detection dogs
  • mapping, data integration and spatial analysis
  • specialised traps developed and refined by field practitioners
  • a fully automated cage system currently under development.

To further increase efficiency of trapping operations as the program progresses from knockdown to mop-up phases, we have been working with New Zealand business Encounter Solutions to develop a fully automated cage trap network. The Intellicage has been designed to reduce off-target captures and negate the need to manually bait traps. The first ten prototypes are due to arrive on Kangaroo Island in September 2026 and will undergo intensive field testing. If successful the Intellicage network will be expanded, replacing more traditional traps and vastly improving the efficiency of the program.

No single tool will detect or remove every cat. The strength of the program lies in combining technologies and refining methods, learning from the results and adapting the response to individual animals and locations.

These innovations are helping establish a model for future vertebrate pest eradication programs on islands and across mainland landscapes.

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program
Kangaroo Island Feral Cat Eradication team member Josh Mulvaney specialises in feral cat monitoring and detection. In this photo Josh is showcasing the camera used for monitoring and detection at the Kangaroo Island Cat Exclusion Fence to a delegation from the Island Arks Symposium that took place in August 2024. The KILB Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program was showcased to 131 delegates from across the Asia Pacific region. Our team shared their knowledge, experiences, tools and technology with colleagues undertaking feral cat and similar eradication program on 12 islands across the Australia and New Zealand.

Strengthening the cat-exclusion fence

A three-kilometre cat-exclusion fence across the Pelican Lagoon isthmus helps prevent feral cats moving back onto the Dudley Peninsula.

Recent upgrades include improvements where the fence crosses Hog Bay Road and extensions below the low-water line. Monitoring equipment and specialised infrastructure help the team detect, deter and respond to cats attempting to cross the barrier.

The fence is not a stand-alone solution. It works as part of an integrated system that combines surveillance, rapid response, trapping, field operations and community reports.

Legislative changes supporting eradication

Changes to South Australian legislation and regulatory approvals have removed important operational barriers while maintaining requirements for landholder permission, animal welfare and public safety.

These changes support the carefully controlled use of specialised tools, including soft-jaw leg-hold traps, thermal ground operations and cat detection dogs near residences where appropriate approvals and landholder consent are in place.

This greater operational flexibility will be particularly important as the team moves from landscape-scale knockdown to locating individual cats.

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program
Glenn Willson, a Dudley East resident, took part in the 2024 landholder-led trapping blitz spotted and captured feral cats around Moffatt Road on the Dudley , with a feral cat eradication team member, Chantelle Geissler.

Community partnership makes eradication possible

The program could not succeed without the trust, advice, advocacy and practical support of the Kangaroo Island community.

More than 99 per cent of Dudley Peninsula landholders support or actively participate in the program. Landholders provide property access, local knowledge, assistance with trapping and reports of cat activity.

Community members also helped establish the Feline Hotline, advocated for completion funding and supported legislative changes needed to undertake eradication safely and effectively.

Thank you to everyone who has:

  • provided access to properties
  • participated in trapping activities
  • reported cats and signs of cat activity
  • shared local knowledge with field staff
  • kept domestic cats safely contained
  • advocated for the program
  • supported staff working in the field.

The program’s success belongs to the community as well as the people delivering it.

Animal welfare and responsible practice

The Kangaroo Island Landscape Board is committed to delivering the program safely, lawfully and humanely.

Control methods are selected and used by trained practitioners in accordance with relevant legislation, permits, operating procedures and animal welfare requirements. Remote trap alerts allow triggered traps to be attended sooner, improving efficiency and animal welfare outcomes.

The team continually reviews and refines its tools and practices to improve target specificity, reduce the capture of non-target animals and respond appropriately when native wildlife enters a trap.

Feral cats are not suitable for release or rehoming. Cats living independently in the landscape may carry disease, have limited tolerance of people and continue to pose a serious threat to native wildlife and livestock if returned to the environment.

Report feral cat sightings

Community reports help the team to focus trapping effort, deploy thermal tools or detection dogs in areas where cats have been recently active.

Please report:

  • feral cats
  • tracks or scat
  • suspected wildlife kills
  • scavenging on roadkill or deceased livestock
  • deceased cats
  • feral cats removed by landholders

Call or text the Feline Hotline on 0459 952 830

Please report activity immediately or as soon as possible and include the location, time, direction of travel and a photograph if possible.

Every report is taken seriously and investigated by the team.

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program

Responsible domestic cat ownership

The program recognises and thanks the vast majority of domestic cat owners who keep their pets safely contained and identifiable.

Domestic cats must not be allowed to roam during eradication operations. Keeping cats contained protects pets from vehicles, disease and accidental removal while also protecting native wildlife.

Under Kangaroo Island Council requirements, domestic cats must be:

  • registered
  • microchipped
  • desexed, unless an exemption applies
  • contained to their owner’s property
  • managed in accordance with limits on the number of cats kept at a property.

Owners are strongly encouraged to ensure their cat wears visible identification in addition to being registered and microchipped.

Visitors bringing a cat to Kangaroo Island must also comply with Kangaroo Island Council’s notification, registration and containment requirements.

Read the Kangaroo Island Council Cats By-law.

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program
Feral cats are the apex predator on Kangaroo Island and actively contribute to declining populations of native species such as the little penguin. This photos shows a collared domestic cat actively predating on little penguins. Please keep domestic cats contained to protect native wildlife.

Funding the final phases

Nearly $4 million in completion funding has been secured for the final operational phases of the Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program.

This includes:

  • $2.7 million from the Australian Government
  • $800,000 from the Government of South Australia
  • $370,000 in philanthropic funding through the Invasive Species Council.

This investment supports the intensive knockdown, targeted removal, monitoring and proof-of-absence work needed to complete the program.

Read the funding announcement.

Thank you to our supporters

The Kangaroo Island Landscape Board thanks the Australian Government, Government of South Australia, Ian Potter Foundation, Purryburry Trust and Invasive Species Council for supporting the program.

We are also thankful for the support, advice and participation of:

Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication Program
The program receives high levels of community support and participation.

More information

Project Leader - Feral cats

35 Dauncey Street Kingscote

+61 08 8553 2476

ki.landscapeboard@sa.gov.au