When New Zealand
declared war on dirty-clawed predators — stoats, rats, weasels — there was little outcry. But a ban on kitties? Here comes the loud meow of cat lovers’ outrage.
First, New Zealand declared war on dirty-clawed predators — stoats, rats, weasels — and there was little to be missed. But as the fight comes to the kitties, some owners are positively outraged.
New Zealand’s efforts to protect its most rarefied creatures are turning to a measure that has rattled many cat owners: banning feline friends. The southern coastal village of Omaui — inhabited by 35 people, seven or eight cherished cats and a slew of endangered species, according to reporting from The New York Times — is considering a “pest plan” to defend New Zealand’s vulnerable native wildlife. The plan would prohibit domestic cats, arguing owners should be willing to put the island’s extraordinary biodiversity over
“Often people have a choice. Is it the native birds and wildlife, like the lizards, insects they want to thrive? Or is it the cat?” Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage, commenting on similar cat bans, told Newshub.
Introduced last week, the Omaui proposal, which targets 72 predators, including domestic cats, would require current cat-izens to be neutered, micro-chipped and registered within six months. After a cat dies, its owner would not be allowed to get another. Should residents resist, the government would force them to exile their cats — or seize them as a last resort.
Opponents of the plan say that ridding the village of a few felines won’t protect the endangered species, but will leave vermin to run rampant.
“It doesn’t their furry companions. matter how many (rodents) I trap and poison, more just keep coming in from the bush,” Nico Jarvis, an Omaui resident who owns three cats and is starting a petition to combat the ban, told the Otago Daily Times. “If I cannot have a cat, it almost becomes unhealthy for me to live in my house.”
Jarvis accused Environment Southland, the regional council behind the pest plan, of behaving “like a police state” by trying to prohibit Omaui’s domestic cats, and said the majority of the community thinks the benefit to local wildlife would be negligible. But Jeremy Collins, the Omaui Landcare Charitable Trust chairman who pushed for the ban, said he’s seen native birds “ripped to pieces” on his front lawn, the Otago Daily Times reported.
“Native wildlife is disappearing rapidly around the country and places like this, where people still live and enjoy and hear the birdsong, are probably few and far between,’’ Collins told the Otago Daily Times.
New Zealand has the highest proportion of endangered species in the world, as it is home to more than 4,000-odd threatened creatures and critters, ranging from the small Maui and Hector’s dolphins to the fluffy, flightless Kiwi, the nation’s icon. Environmental experts say New Zealand’s rare, native species have been terrorized by invaders that arrived alongside the country’s settlers 200 years ago.
In 2016, the country pledged to wipe out all invasive mammals by 2050, as it dedicated NZ$2.3 billion to its “Predator Free New Zealand” plan. The government says these creatures kill 25 million native birds every year, spread diseases and cost the New Zealand economy and primary sector NZ$3.3 billion a year.
Domestic cats, however, weren’t included on the 2016 hit list, perhaps because of New Zealand’s singular feline infatuation. According to some estimates, New Zealand has more cats per capita than any country in the world. A former conservation minister proposed a nationwide cat cap — two per household, but support fell short.
While many experts said Morgan’s characterization of house cats was radical, research has actually shifted in his favor, as domestic cats have been found responsible for the extinction of several bird species.
Omaui residents have until Oct. 23 to weigh in on the proposal.