Feral cats kill an estimated 1.5 billion native animals in Australia every year. Here is the scale of the problem and why conventional approaches are failing.
The Numbers
There are an estimated 2.8 million feral cats in Australia, ranging across 99.9% of the continent. Each feral cat kills on average 5–15 native animals per night. Extrapolate: feral cats collectively kill approximately 1.5 billion animals annually in Australia, including over 400 million birds and over 600 million reptiles. These are not estimates with wide uncertainty ranges — they are derived from rigorous tracking studies across multiple ecosystems.
Why Conventional Control Fails
Baiting campaigns are limited by cats' neophobia — a strong instinct to avoid novel objects including baits. Trapping is labour-intensive and area-limited. Shooting is effective locally but cats recolonise rapidly from adjacent areas. No single method controls populations at landscape scale.
What Is Working
Fenced sanctuaries: Predator-proof fenced enclosures have saved numerous species from extinction. They require ongoing investment but work completely within their boundaries.
Coordinated landscape management: Integrated programs combining baiting, shooting, and habitat management over large areas show population suppression (if not elimination).
Eradication on islands: Australia has successfully eradicated feral cats from several offshore islands. Island eradications protect significant seabird colonies and allow native fauna to recover dramatically.
The Hunter's Role
Feral cat control on private and public land (where legal) is meaningful conservation work. Landowners who welcome hunters for feral pig or fox control should be asked about cat pressure — it is almost always significant.
