Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2017C00220:reg:1:p9
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2017C00220
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 1 (pt 9/9)
Character Range: 26292–28808

movement of other wildlife, preventing their dispersal and interbreeding with other populations. Fencing is expensive and requires ongoing maintenance to ensure its predator-proof integrity.
Interactions between pest species mean that control of feral cats can have flow-on effects on other invasive animals, such as rabbits, rats and mice, that feral cats may have preyed on. For example, rabbit populations may require managing in conjunction with the feral cats. If feral cats are consuming rabbits as major prey items, rabbit numbers could potentially increase with feral cat control. The converse is also possible with rabbit control potentially affecting feral cat abundances. The interactions between the introduced (wild dog, European red fox, cat) and native predators may also influence the design of a control program. An understanding of these potential complex ecological interactions is important when designing and recommending pest animal control programs, and in many situations, concurrent multi-species programs will be required. Integrating control techniques may also maximise the success of management programs.
Although total mainland eradication may be the ideal goal of a feral cat threat abatement plan, it is not feasible with current resources and techniques. Feral cat populations must instead be suppressed and managed to mitigate impacts in targeted areas where they pose the greatest threat to biodiversity. In doing so, care must be taken to ensure that the suppression and management techniques being employed are actually meeting the goal of improving biodiversity. In addition, eradication may be achievable in isolated areas, such as small reserves, peninsulas and offshore islands. For example, cats were eradicated from Tasman Island in 2011 (Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service 2011). Progress in management programs must be monitored to ensure that objectives are met and to allow management options to be adapted to changing circumstances.
Best-practice management of feral cats must involve a reduction of the threat, not only to targeted threatened species, but also to other native species that may be affected by feral cat predation. For any given area this will require a determination of the level of feral cat control required, which should be measured through monitoring of population changes and of native species recovery. It may be possible in some situations to instead measure a feral cat population reduction that can be linked to threatened species recovery.