Cats are unusual in that they are a predator of our native species as well as pets and companions for many people. A feral cats lives in the wild and differs from domestic cats as they have none of their needs provided for by humans.
Feral cats are generalist predators, with a diet that varies depending on what habitat they are in. They eat mostly birds, lizards and invertebrates, scavenge readily and can travel long distances. Ground nesting birds and bats are particularly vulnerable to feral cat predation. They are highly skilled apex hunters — apex means nothing preys on it.
Controlling feral cats needs to be done as humanely as possible and live capture traps are one of the best tools available. Live capture traps also allow users to confirm if the cat is an owned domestic cat or not. If you have a problem with unowned or feral cats we recommend you contact Auckland Council or the Department of Conservation.
History of Cat Introduction
New Zealand’s taonga (native wildlife) evolved over millions of years, isolated from the rest of the world, so they didn’t develop defences against mammalian predators such as cats. Cats were one of the first introduced species to establish in New Zealand, they arrived with European ships in 1769 as cats were carried onboard to keep rat numbers down. 50 years later there was an established feral cat population. Cats were then deliberately released in the 1870s in an attempt to control rabbit numbers.
Cats are highly skilled hunters and are known to kill all kinds of native wildlife including birds, bats, lizards and insects. Cats are an apex predator in New Zealand , this means nothing preys on them and therefore humans need to minimise their impact on our ecosystems as much as possible.
What you can do to help
Responsible cat ownership is important. It includes microchipping cats, desexing, limiting the number of cats per household and keeping cats inside as much as possible at night. Add bells to your cats collar, the more bells the better. Bells don’t completely stop hunting but they do minimise it.
Auckland Council supports neutering and micro chipping of domestic cats and provides funding to the local vet so that this service can be done at a discounted rate.