One-day-old feral kittens. Photo / Tom Eley
Waipā District Council has welcomed the addition of feral cats to New Zealand’s Predator Free 2050 strategy, calling it a major boost for native wildlife.
However, a Waikato animal shelter has raised animal welfare concerns about what that could look like in practice.
Conservation Minister Tama Potaka confirmed last week that feral cats would join possums, rats, stoats, weasels and ferrets on the national target species list.
“Feral cats are now found across Aotearoa New Zealand, from farms to forests, and they put huge pressure on native birds, bats, lizards and insects,” Potaka said.
“They also spread toxoplasmosis, which harms dolphins, affects people and costs farmers through lost stock.”
The Department of Conservation (DoC) defines a feral cat as an unowned, unsocialised animal that lives and breeds entirely in the wild without relying on people for food or care.
It distinguishes them from stray cats, which still have some human contact, and domestic pets, which are excluded from Predator Free 2050 targets.
Waipā District Council said the inclusion of feral cats on the target list would help native plants and animals thrive, improve biodiversity and restore ecosystems.
District growth and regulatory services group manager Wayne Allan said it would also give communities and councils more support in managing feral cats.
“It gives local efforts the support they need, with legal backing, guidance and funding to ensure they are co-ordinated and effective.”
He said the council was now waiting for the Government’s revised Predator Free 2050 Strategy, due in March 2026, which would guide its next steps.
DoC Predator Free 2050 manager Brent Beaven said the inclusion of feral cats on the target list had “strong public support”.
Beaven said control operations would continue to follow “humane best-practice methods”, including trapping, shooting and the use of approved toxic baits.
Any new methods developed would be required to meet animal-welfare standards.
However, Hamilton’s Rachael Maher, founder of animal shelter Paws 4 Life, raised concerns and reiterated the need for humane trapping and euthanasia methods.
“I totally agree with it, but it’s all going to be in the details, how the public buys into that.
“What safety precautions are there for the cat and how is it going to be executed? Is it like down the line where the kids at the school just go out and kill everything and then they get a prize for how many carcasses they’ve got?”
Maher used to take in feral kittens, however, she had to stop due to the cost and difficulty of retraining them to find new homes.
Maher said feral cats were a human-caused issue and were often abandoned by previous owners.
In her view, campaigns to educate people about desexing cats had largely failed.
The SPCA is not taking in feral kittens.
SPCA senior scientific officer Dr Christine Sumner said the organisation advised people to exhaust non-lethal options before attempting to trap cats.
She said anyone using live traps must comply with the Animal Welfare Act, including checking traps frequently and handling animals appropriately.
The SPCA opposed inhumane methods of killing feral cats, such as leghold traps or air rifles, which increased the likelihood of pain and distress.
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of cat ownership in the world, with more than 1.2 million companion cats.
Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. He previously worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive.