Is the Felixer cat trap safe for native carnivores?

Thanks David. I do suspect you will be largely right, and that for every cat killed, others will quickly reclaim their territory. But my hope is that this method can a permanent control tool, so even when the new cats move in to reclaim that territory, they will eventually walk past the machine and get killed as well. This would hopefully put a sustained impact on the cat populations. Yet I don’t want to get my hopes too high yet! If this project shows that this method does not affect quolls, then this will certainly be our next avenue for research.

Thanks Cecilia. We cant wait to let to let you know how it goes.

Thanks so much Edward- nice to have such committed supporters! Yes it's true that animal recognition is the main thing we're focusing on- at this stage we're leaving the engineering to John Read (the trap developer) and his collaborators, but we will certainly reach out if we need additional help! Check out Hugh's lab note here on 'Background to the Felixer' for more details on how the trap recognises different species here: https://experiment.com/u/CPvzVQ

Thanks so much Phillip :)

Very true- Hugh actually used dogs as part of his previous cat research in the Kimberley. I think with feral cats there's never going to be one magic bullet, it's just about having as many control options as we can to fit all the different situations. Thanks again for your support of this project!

Thanks so much for the donation! We agree about the devastating impact of cats, hopefully this is one step in the right direction :). We have spoken to the site about the $US, they are trying to fix it for the future but are unlikely to get something done for our project. If you'd like to change the amount, just let us know and we can put you in touch with the site co-ordinators to sort it out. Thanks again

Hi Adrian, those are definitely valid concerns and I'll do my best to answer them! Firstly, with regards to the poison used: this device is not in commercial development yet, and it's likely that the poison used and the dose rates will have to be tailored for different environments. To the best of our understanding, one of the most likely poisons that would be used is PAPP (para-aminopropiophenone). When a suitable dose is administered, it is fast acting (typically killing the animal in around 2 hours) and acts by reducing oxygen in the blood. This means the animals become sleepy and lethargic before dying. The poison also degrades fairly quickly in the environment and has a low risk of being passed up the food chain through animals scavenging on poisoned carcasses. You can find more information on this poison here: http://www.pestsmart.org.au/papp-for-wild-dog-and-fox-control/. I should stress we won't be using poison in these trials yet! And some further work would be required to work out the optimal dose required. Secondly, with regard to pet cats. This is definitely an issue if the trap is going to be used in urban areas (less so in wilderness or remote areas). I believe there is some work currently underway to try to incorporate a microchip scanner into the device which would disable the firing mechanism if it detects a microchip within the firing range for this exact reason. I'm not sure where that work is up to, however. I hope that helps to answer your questions, let me know if I can answer anything else!

Good questions. You got good answers. Poison is poison = the cat is dead. The point is can this device kill feral cats and not harm native animals. Your donation (if you choose to make one) will address this specific problem. Along the way issues of companion cats also become part of the conversation. Owners of companion cats have legislative rights. Free roaming and stray cats that live wild or even semi wild tolerating human interaction (feeding) are not companion cats. This device is not a trap. It will determine if the cat is a companion cat or not. If chipped it is or was a companion cat - if not then it is feral or abandoned and should be destroyed. What poison to use will be scrutinised by an ethics committee. This device will also come under scrutiny from animal welfare groups globally. In particular I anticipate global cat welfare groups will become quite active in opposing this device. These groups see the solution in TNR. There is no question about the damage done by cats in Australia. The only solution is instant destruction. Cats cannot live side by side with Australian native animals.

Thanks so much Jenny! We are pretty excited about this project and will keep you all informed on how it's running along.