Govt’s feral cat changes ‘validate’ Nelson Tasman rules

Nelson Tasman’s approach to cat control is well aligned with the Government’s move to add feral cats to its Predator Free list, council representatives say.

The region changed several local cat rules last year, including new cats needing to be microchipped, desexed, and registered on the New Zealand Companion Animal Register.

Last month, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka announced feral cats would be added to the Predator Free 2050 strategy, saying it would help protect native wildlife.

“We know people want their local reserves, beaches and bush tracks to be full of birds, not predators.”

The Government decision came a year after the Nelson and Tasman councils added feral cats to their joint pest management plan for control at specific sites across the region, and each council introduced rules mandating the desexing and microchipping of pet cats.

“It… certainly validates the steps that we’ve taken,” said Tasman District councillor Celia Butler.

Butler chaired the councils’ joint pest management committee last term and oversaw the complicated process of adding feral cats to the regional pest plan.

As the councils expanded their rules, there had been discussions around Government leadership for cat management.

She said the specific desire had been for an Act that mandated the microchipping of pet cats.

Mandatory microchipping was considered a key step in combatting feral cats to ensure companion cats weren’t harmed.

The desexing requirement was also hoped to reduce the number of strays.

“We have a Dog Control Act, which is national legislation, but we don’t have anything to do with cats. That’s something that I think would help to make it easier to deal with feral cats,” Butler said.

Representatives for the Tasman District and Nelson City Councils separately agreed that feral cats’ inclusion in the strategy will not alter the region’s current site-led control of the pest.

The specific locations that were selected for feral cat control were chosen because of their high biodiversity value and because the pest was already being managed on-site.

“Nelson City Council supports but is not bound by Predator Free 2050 and will continue working collaboratively with residents to manage biodiversity in ways that are both practical and appropriate for our district,” highlighted manager science and environment, Clive Appleton.

“However, in the long term, with better national focus on feral cat control we expect improved technology and standardised operating procedures to come which will support these site-led efforts,” a Tasman District Council spokesperson added.

They both said that the Government’s change could result in expectations for more wide-reaching feral cat control, but that future efforts would need to balance local community needs and biodiversity value, particularly in urban areas.

The two councils didn’t monitor the region’s feral cat numbers, but the local population, derived from national estimates, could be around 90,000.

The Tasman Environmental Trust supported several ecological programmes around the region, including the Battle for the Banded Rail which undertakes some feral cat trapping around the Waimea Inlet.

Trust manager Sky Davies said cats had a “serious impact” on biodiversity, preying on birds and their nests, lizards, bats, and insects.

She said the changes implemented by the two councils last year were “really important” for the management of the local feral cat population and the Government’s new approach would “shine a light” on the problem feral cats posed.

“It means that we can manage the cat problem with the right tools, the right science, and the right safeguards in place. It will just help create an environment where there’s some cohesion among the people responsible for managing pests and provide some clearer tools and approaches.”

– Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air