State to kill thousands of cats in bid to protect native species

Thousands of cats will be killed in Queensland in a bid to protect some of Australia’s most vulnerable species.

Thousands of cats will be killed as part of a new culling program which aims to protect some of Australia’s most vulnerable species.

The program aims to reduce the growing population of feral cats across 180,000 hectares of south-west Queensland.

“This project is a chance to turn the tide,” Desert Channels Queensland CEO Leanne Kohler said.

Funding of $498,973 was poured into the project as part of the government’s Saving Native Species Program.

The Channel Country Threatened Species Partnership (CCTSP) will unite 12 groups “in a shared mission to safeguard the environment and biodiversity of our remarkably beautiful Channel Country”, Ms Kohler said.

Included in this partnership are traditional custodians, pastoral companies, conservation groups and the Queensland Government.

Together they will work to conserve iconic threatened species, including endangered and critically endangered fauna such as the greater bilby, the night parrot, the plains-wanderer and the kowari.

More than 200 species are threatened by feral cats, including the endangered greater bilby. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

There are more than 200 native species which come under ongoing threat from feral cats, which are one of Australia’s most devastating predators.

“Feral cats are relentless hunters that don’t recognise property boundaries,” the state’s Deputy Director-General of the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation Ben Klaassen.

“Innovative collaborative partnerships increase our chances of successfully managing such a damaging pest species and improving recovery outcomes for threatened species,” Mr Klaassen said.

The control efforts include humane ground shootings, trapping and the use of thermal imaging scopes to locate and cull cats across eight sites in the Channel Country area.

Despite being labelled as humane culling remains a highly controversial practice and there have been calls for non-lethal alternatives to be implemented.

The Australian Wildlife Society has been approached for comment on the matter.

It is hoped that the program will successfully protect native wildlife and restore balance to Australian ecosystems.

Originally published as State to kill thousands of cats in bid to protect native species