Removing the final feral cats from the Dudley Peninsula
The KI Feral Cat Eradication team would like to sincerely thank the Dudley Peninsula community for their ongoing support of the program, particularly in light of this year's very dry seasonal conditions.
The Dudley Peninsula feral cat eradication program is the largest by area on a populated island anywhere in the world. The Kangaroo Island Landscape Board has removed nearly 1,600 feral cats since the program's inception in 2020.
Through ongoing support from our community, stakeholders and funders, the feral cat eradication program leads the nation in the adoption and application of novel, cutting-edge technology, exceptionally high levels of community participation and highly skilled practitioners.
"Less than 150 feral cats are estimated to remain on the Dudley Peninsula. The program observed a 67% decrease in the feral cat population using camera detections because of intensive knockdown of the population in 2024,
"Cat detections across the more than 275 motion-detection cameras on the Dudley Peninsula are now at the lowest level ever over the program's history," Mr Jennings said.
Mr Jennings said the team is now focusing on working with the Dudley community to deliver its most intensive winter knockdown program in 2025 to reduce the feral cat population by more than 90%.
"This will allow the program to move into the mop-up phase of the program within 12 months and remove the last remaining feral cats, he said."
"We are working with the State and Federal Governments and non-government organisations to secure top-up funding to seal the deal after their outstanding support to date," he said.
"Fast-tracking the program will minimise the risk associated with multi-year programs, where remaining cats can become more difficult to remove and can breed, supplementing the population."
LEGISLATIVE CHANGES ENABLE LARGER TRAPPING AREA
Mr Jennings said recent amendments in legislation have enabled a broader use of soft-jaw leg-hold traps that, with landholder permission, will allow us to set these traps within a 1-kilometre radius of a residence and double the coverage of traps across the Dudley Peninsula.
"Our team will contact landholders seeking permission to set soft jaw-leg hold traps in the coming weeks. We want to work with landholders to avoid any unnecessary disruption to farm activities leading up to lambing season," Mr Jennings said.
"If you are a property owner on the Dudley Peninsula and have questions about the use of soft-jaw leg-hold traps please contact me on 8553 2476 during business hours."
UPGRADES TO CAT EXCLUSION FENCE
In December 2024, approval was granted by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport and the KI Council to upgrade the Feral Cat Exclusion Fence.
"This approval will allow us to significantly narrow the gap at Hog Bay Road and construct wildlife and cat corridors parallel to the road on both sides," Mr Jennings said.
"Corridors or raceways will allow wildlife to move freely and, more importantly, for us to direct cat movement for easier detection, and camera-activated audio deterrents and control devices will be installed along raceways, providing an extra level of confidence and security," he said.
"The Board has engaged a contractor who is on track to deliver these upgrades over the coming months, including extending the fence over the low water tide mark."
CAT DETECTION DOGS
Funding has been secured to support the deployment of trained feral cat detection dogs to assist with the eradication of feral cats on the Dudley Peninsula. The use of detection dogs is critical to the success of the program.
"As feral cat densities continue to decline across the peninsula over the next 12 to 24 months, remaining feral cats will become increasingly more difficult to remove," Mr Jennings said.
"Specialist tools and techniques, such as detection dogs, will be required to remove every last feral cat, and following this, will be extremely important for proof of absence monitoring to confirm eradication success," he said.
TEAMING UP WITH TRACKS AND THE SAND
The KILB has partnered with Aboriginal-owned and operated business Tracks in the Sand, founded by Ronald Boland.
Ronald left school at the age of 13. He started work as an Aboriginal stockman at Anna Creek Station and has spent most of his life out in the bush working on remote cattle stations in northern South Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland.
Ronald and his team will be on the island closer to the winter trapping blitz. He'll be working with the feral cat team to share his knowledge of trapping and tracking learnt over more than 40 years in the bush.
"Our team is looking forward to helping Ronald's team embrace the game-changing technology applied by the program, including the Celium trap monitoring network," Mr Jennings said.
REPORT CAT SIGHTINGS
Please report any sighting of feral cats, cat tracks or suspected cat kills to the Feline Hotline on 0459 952 830 as soon as possible.
"We are particularly interested in the time and location of the cat sightings so this information can be passed directly to our team," Mr Jennings said.
"We thank community members who have reported cat sightings via the Feline Hotline over the summer. The information you have provided has led to several captures over the summer period," he said.
The Kangaroo Island Landscape Board supports this program through funding from the Australian and South Australian Governments, the Ian Potter Foundation and the Purryburry Trust.
