Can’t they just bring in mongeese or cane toads to eat all the cats?
/s
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Cats and rats are a significant problem in NZ because many of the native birds are ground nesters and there is a huge program to try and remove the introduced pests - or at least control them.
For domestic pets, keep them inside or restrained when outside. If you can’t bear the thought of your cat having to stay inside, either train them to accept a leash (we walk our cat on the leash) or build a catio.
For ferals, sterilisation is not a solution unfortunately, it needs to be euthanasia but the children shouldn’t be encouraged to kill them, at most they should be trapping them (if possible) and bringing them to a professional.
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remember that NZ has almost no native land mammals (a couple of species of bats), but over the past 200 years feral deer, goats, elk pigs, aussie possums, cats, rats, stoats, ferrets, walaby, rabbits … (I’ve probably missed a few) … oh yeah and humans, have been introduced … the cats have no natural predators, or introduced ones either, but the natural avian wildlife, who have evolved without mammal predation, continue to be at risk of extinction from introduced predators
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I’m grandpa-age, ex boy scout NZ-born native. I will actively encourage any child in New Zealand to kill any feral invasive animal it sees, at every opportunity. Cats, possums, rats, deer, wallaby, rabbits and more, each and every single one of them. My whole life I’ve witnessed a continuing battle to preserve the remaining specimens of several native birds at extreme risk of extinction. There are ongoing very serious projects to eradicate any number of invasive species to save the birds, in regions smaller or larger, clear across the group of islands.
And New Zealanders, by the way, very often identify themselves as “kiwis”, our most celebrated national animal, a flightless nocturnal bird. I grew up with pet cats in NZ too, but we don’t generally self-identify with cats.
Many of us agree with the “extremists” over in Australia who are trying to exterminate them over there too, and save the native Australian fauna from extinction.
When driving in down-under country at night, we aim for the little critters without remorse. It’s a national sport, and it’s horrid, and I’m a lifelong vegetarian. If my pet cat is killed when outside, that’s my fault.
For decades in the past, kids used to hunt animals for fur for pocket money, but then animal fur became massively unpopular and the market disappeared, possum numbers exploded, all sorts of poison drops were attempted … it’s a continuing colossal head-ache. Humans have massively disrupted the ecosystem, and we’re trying to correct it.
Having a sport hunt to teach kids how to protect the native species?
Hell, yeah, I might contact the organiser and chip in with a donation.
How else do you end up with a population of adults who actively exterminate these invasive species, if you don’t educate the kids to do that, when they’re kids?
All the posturing I see in the comment section - people, please, educate yourself before you so willfully throw stones.
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If it’s necessary to protect a native species then so be it.
It’s the sport hunt for kids I object to. It should never be sport to kill something especially for kids.
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I understand that New Zealand has serious issues with invasive species. I agree that those invasive species, even feral cats, need to be eradicated for the sake of a delicate ecosystem that has been neglected for too long.
It is wrong to encourage children to kill animals for fun. It is wrong to encourage children to kill for money.
Full. Fucking. Stop.
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Yeah, the “something must be done about the cats” bit here really dodges that point, doesn’t it? Like for some reason it’s important that animal control must be done not by trained professionals, or even adults.
Up above JDM worries about traps catching the wrong animals, which is fair enough…but for some reason 12 year olds given shotguns and encouraged to kill as much as possible aren’t a worry for that?
I have sadly had to euthanize both pets and wild animals before. It was really hard, and I am glad to have had qualified veterinarians to take care of it. I didn’t offer the neighborhood kids a few bucks to come see what their parents’ power drills could do. I guess that makes me a sucker?
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Such a program wouldn’t even help the real issue. To remove feral cats or any other invasive species from NZ isn’t easy. It isn’t a matter of killing a couple hundred, or even couple thousand, individual cats. Otherwise it would be done by now.
This hunting contest would result in very little impact on the total population of feral cats, a lot of unnecessary suffering for the ones who are killed or injured and get a way, and teach kids to kill for fun is ok. Which is a messed up thing to teach children.
I will note I have not stated, even once, that I believe cats in NZ are not a problem. My position has nothing to do with the fact the targets are cats. It is wrong to teach children killing is fun. If killing must be done, it needs to be done as quickly and humanely as possible by adults and not for funsies. I do not get why this concept is so difficult for some people. Unless they like messing with the minds of children.
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I’ll just leave this here:
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oh no that would be horrible. Breeding cats is so easy… (also female cats can get pregnant as early as 4 months and have as many as 5 litters in a year so accompanying graphic should be adjusted accordingly)
Even this BBC article fails to mention any alternatives to having random pre-teens and children running and gunning about the county. The end of the article essentially states “we’ve tried nothing, and we’re all out of ideas”
Dr Blackie also said that because feral cats are not officially classified as pests in Canterbury, there are no measures in place to monitor or control them.
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Maybe work on the problem before you have a million? Capture-neuter-release has decimated (no exaggeration) the feral cat population in my area, in the last half-decade.
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Well no. Unfortunately, a LOT of people let their cats out. Many because they think it’s unnatural or even “cruel” not to. 
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I think that is out of the BBC remit, many licence payers would rebel.
Reducing the population by 10% probably isn’t enough to get the results that New Zealand is looking for, unfortunately.
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Well yes, but they’re idiots. (And that’s me being polite.)
Here, have a badge!
Not that I’d wear it proudly if I were you, given that your pedantry is ahistorical.
and even when neutered, they are still killing the native animals. We need to eliminate the feral cat population, just the same as we are doing with the other invasive pests.
