New Zealand has announced plans to eradicate feral cats by 2050, as part of efforts to protect the country’s biodiversity.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand on Thursday, conservation minister Tama Potaka said that feral cats are “stone cold killers” and would be added to the country’s Predator Free 2050 list, which aims to eradicate those animals that have a negative impact on species such as birds, bats, lizards and insects.
Cats had previously been excluded from the list, which includes species such as stoats, ferrets, weasels, rats and possums, but Potaka used the interview to announce a U-turn.


yes but leave it to politicians to do everything in the worst possible way
Yeah, well fed house cats never bring home dead mice and birds.
🤦♂️
If the cat is a strictly indoor cat and is bringing you dead mice and birds, you may have a problem with mice and birds in your house.
Well, Polly had it coming
Well… yeah. Nowhere near the point, but you said a thing that was true.
I keep mine indoors… and our city sterilizes feral cats and lets them go again if they cannot be adopted timely
A much humane approach that limits the harm a cat could do in the wild
That’s not harm reduction. Letting then go is ecocide. And it isn’t even humane. Feral cats are feral, they can’t be adopted. Better to humanely put them down.
they are not even been added to the kill list for 25 more years… it’s either not that urgent or this is just virtue signaling from politicians
ps: x for doubt on any “humanely” thing proposed by politicians
Harm reduction isn’t really sufficient when every single feral cat kills presumably hundreds of criticially endangered birds per year, is it?
they are not even adding them to the kill list for another 25 years… can’t be that urgent, or politicians always solve issues in the worst possible way
You misunderstand, the project aims to have them eradicated by 2050, not starting to eradicate them in 2050. The project isn’t called Predator Free 2050 for no reason.
Ah, I see… thanks for the correction