Dudley Peninsula landholders blitzing feral cats
The Kangaroo Island Landscape Board wishes to thank the community members helping to eradicate feral cats across the Dudley Peninsula and Pelican Lagoon isthmus.
“We are now past the halfway mark of the Dudley Peninsula Landholder-Led Feral Cat Trapping Blitz, possible by funding through Agriculture Kangaroo Island,” said Kangaroo Island Landscape Board (KILB) Chair Andrew Heinrich.
“Since opening traps at the end of April until 19 June 2024, we have captured 187 feral cats, 132 from the Dudley Peninsula and 55 from the Pelican Lagoon Isthmus Management Zone, which extends west of the feral cat barrier fence,” he said.
Mr Heinrich said as part of our overall winter feral cat blitz, KILB is working with 35 landholders who are using cage traps connected to the Celium Network and the Rappt.IO app, so they can see, using their smartphone, if a trap has been triggered.
“Working alongside these landholders has added over 100 traps to the landscape and resulted in some great captures in areas that would be hard for our team to reach,” Mr Heinrich said.
“This is an outstanding effort, considering this is usually a very busy time for primary producers,” he said.
“However, this year's is even more challenging due to extremely dry conditions and a very late break to the season and we are especially thankful for their efforts.”
Mr Heinrich said the entire feral cat eradication team wishes to express a heartfelt shout-out to each and every community member participating in the landholder cat-trapping blitz.
“Your dedication and commitment to this cause are commendable,” Mr Heinrich said.
Mr Heinrich said the feral cat eradication team also want to thank the vigilant members of our community who have been reporting cat sightings via the Feline Hotline - 0459 952 830.
“Your role in this process is crucial, as these sightings help our team track and understand the movement patterns of these feral cats, leading to more effective eradication strategies,” Mr Heinrich said.
“This information is very valuable to our team as we use remote cameras to identify individual cats and understand their movement patterns,” he said.
“Our team follows up on these sightings, which informs our shooting program and deployment of our specially trained cat detection dogs.”
If you would like to learn about the Dudley Peninsula Feral Cat Eradication rogram, please visit the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board’s website, www.landscape.sa.gov.au/ki or follow KILB on Facebook.
You can also contact the feral cat eradication team either via the Feline Hotline 0459 952 830 or if you would like to speak to one of the team place call the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board on 8553 2476 with any enquires and they will get back to you.
