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Otago and Grand skink protection in the Central Otago drylands.

shore bird protection at coastal breeding sites.

We control feral cats at numerous sites around New Zealand. A feral cat preys on a banded dotterel at its nestĭOC has a legislated mandate to control feral cats on public conservation land. In the 1980s, all kākāpō were removed urgently from Stewart Island/Rakiura to stop predation by cats. On offshore islands, forest birds and sea birds make up a large part of the feral cat diet. Grand and Otago skink populations are at critically low levels in Central Otago, mainly due to cat predation. Populations of endangered kakī/black stilt, wrybill and black-fronted terns are greatly impacted by cat predation in braided riverbeds in the central South Island. They feed on rabbits, birds and bird eggs, rats, hares, bats, lizards, mice, wētā and other insects.

The basis of their diet alters with the habitat they live in. The threatįeral cats have a major impact on New Zealand’s native and non-native species. They have since died out or been eradicated from nearly half of these islands. It was slowly expanding around the country.Ĭats were also introduced to over 30 offshore islands, from Raoul Island in the north to Rakiura/Stewart Island in the south, as well as the Chathams group, and subantarctic islands. More than 50 years after cats were introduced to New Zealand, a feral cat population was observed to be established. Ships’ cats helped control the large number of unwanted rats aboard voyaging vessels. The first cats in New Zealand arrived with early European explorers in 1769. They live in a wide variety of habitats, including coastal areas, farmland, forests, riverbeds, sub-alpine environments and on islands. Feral cats are widespread in New Zealand.