Sausage baits are the latest weapon in the ongoing battle against the scourge of feral cats. File photo. Photo: SUPPLIED / DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
Recent trials of sausage baits to control feral cat numbers are producing exciting results, the Department of Conservation (DOC) says.
Feral cats were one of New Zealand's most ferocious predators, feeding on native bats, lizards, birds and theirs eggs, wētā and other insects.
As part of its Predator Free 2050 strategy, the department worked with pest control company Orillion to develop a meat sausage bait to bolster more widespread control of feral cats.
Thousands of baits were scattered from helicopters across a 5000 hectare area of St James Conservation Area in inland Canterbury during spring last year.
For every hectare, one 18-gram sausage was dropped.
Nine out of 10 feral cats being monitored by GPS in the area found baits and were killed.
Feral cats have been a menace to New Zealand wildlife for decades. File photo. Photo: SUPPLIED / DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
DOC national eradication team manager Stephen Horn said the results were promising.
"We monitored a sample of feral cats fitted with GPS-VHF collars and nine out of ten cats in the trial area quickly found the baits and were killed," he said.
"We also used a grid of 50 cameras to monitor the presence of feral cats before and after the baiting. We detected cats 63 times before the operation and just once after."
Monitoring at St James also showed stoat and ferret numbers declined to "very low levels" after the operation, most likely from eating baits.
Another recent trial at Otago's Macraes Flat resulted in similar success, with all 11 tracked cats dying.
"It's exciting," Horn said.
"After several years of bait development these trials take us a step closer to being able to register the new bait for wider use,"
"A new tool to target feral cats will be a game changer for protecting our vulnerable wildlife, which is found nowhere else in the world."
Further trials will be held in forested habitats this year. File photo. Photo: SUPPLIED / DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION
During the trials, the bait was delivered without toxin to cue feral cats to the sausages with the second round of bait laced with small amounts of 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate).
It followed previous research showing sausage baits were highly attractive to feral cats and not attractive to most native species, including kiwi and deer.
The department would carry out further trials in forested habitats this year, with the risk of baits to taonga species like tuna/eel and kea to be assessed.
There were plans for the bait to be used to help remove feral cats from Auckland Island as part of a bid to eradicate all pests, including feral pigs and mice from its large sub-antarctic nature reserve.
A second sausage bait, using the registered toxin para-aminopropiophenone, was in development to control stoats.
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