Since 2019, Cradle Coast NRM and Biosecurity Tasmania have been collaborating on an ambitious project to remove feral cats from a remote 70 km2 island in the western Bass Strait. Under the Australian Government’s Regional Land Partnerships program, Cradle Coast NRM was funded to work towards eradication of cats to protect Hooded Plovers and other native species. With PWS oversight, Biosecurity Tas technical know-how, and guidance from the Australia-wide Feral Cat Task-force, we’ve had the opportunity to use cutting-edge technology – Curiosity cat baits, and Felixer grooming traps. In the last two years the project has also benefitted from a collaboration with UTAS DEEP (Dynamics of Eco-Evolutionary Patterns) ecologists.

PhD candidate Alex Paton doubled the size of the monitoring camera array across the island, and has used some sophisticated statistics to assess the impacts of the interventions trialled so far. According to Alex, the cat population might be small and inbred, and the control techniques are definitely working, BUT there are still a few sneaky cats there; we can see them on the cameras and they seem to know not to walk in front of a Felixer! Additional funding under the Australian Government’s Pest Animals and Weeds program has just been announced, so we’ll keep working towards a cat-free Three Hummock Island for the benefit of the native species that call it home.

Meet the speaker

Iona Flett | NRM Planning Manager at Cradle Coast Authority

The Cradle Coast Authority is one of the 54 regional NRM groups around Australia. She has a background in environmental science and natural history, and a Masters in Coastal and Marine Management. She’s been in north-west Tassie since 2017, working on various projects to improve and protect the region’s natural values and increase the community’s appreciation of them. Alex Paton's PhD is focused on optimising camera trap methodology for feral cat monitoring. She is utilising a pre-existing camera trap network established by the DEEP group at UTAS comprising of over 1000 camera trap sites across Tasmania. She is working to apply camera trap monitoring on two remote islands; Three Hummock and lungtalanana, both of which are undertaking intensive feral cat control. Alex has a broad interest in invasive species across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats and looks forward to working on a range of these problematic species once she finishes her PhD in May of 2024.

This event will run off Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) and will be recorded for those unable to make the live event.

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