Скачать или смотреть A case study: improving the efficiency of feral cat control in one of Australia’s special places

Nearly half of the habitat on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, was lost during devastating bushfires in 2019-20.

The island is inhabited by feral cats at densities 10 X higher than on mainland Australia. Impacts of feral cats predating on wildlife are magnified in post-fire landscapes, representing an urgent need to implement effective control programs.

We ran two trials of the Encounter Solutions Celium trap alert technology, which was fitted to the existing 180 trap network spanning 179 km2 in winter 2022. In the first trial, 1,324 trap nights were recorded and the trap alert correctly reported 100% of triggered traps and 47 cats were captured. In the second trial, from 2,287 trap nights, 354 triggers were reported, with 33 feral cats captured. There was a 200% reduction in the number of staff and a 70% reduction in time taken to check traps per day. Vehicle use reduced from three to one and daily distance travelled declined by 43% (247.8 to 141.5 km per day). Following this successful trial the network was expanded to cover 776 km2, connecting 300 traps. In 15 weeks, the network captured 200 feral cats.

A cost-benefit analysis indicated a 36% decrease in the cost of delivering the program. Further, improved animal welfare outcomes were achieved whereby triggered traps were prioritised and checked sooner. These systems can be used by both professionals and communities interested in delivering landscape-scale introduced predator control programs efficiently.

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