Landcare unites against feral cats

LANDCARE groups in the Meander Valley are joining forces against cats.

A feral cat eradication program has been set up in Northern Tasmania and has won $90,000 in Federal Government funding.

The money will be used for community engagement and supplying cat traps to groups across the municipality.

Program instigator and feral cat crusader Kevin Knowles said a cat density study by the Upper Meander Landcare Group had revealed a high number of feral cats in the region.

Previously cat numbers had been estimated using spotlighting counts, which could be unreliable.

Traps to be used as part of the program have been designed by Jamie Cooper from Feral Management Solutions.

The traps are stationed off the ground, which reduces the likelihood of native animals including Tasmanian devils being caught.

Mr Cooper said they had also refined the traps so they can be monitored remotely to see if they have been set off.

Once the cats were in the trap, Mr Knowles said they could be safely removed, examined and have their microchips scanned to check if they were lost pets.

Mr Cooper said the behaviour of feral cats, which were quite aggressive, made them easy to identify.

Feral cats that were trapped could then be euthanased.