Feral cats are in the spotlight with the release of a feral cat mapping and reporting app called FeralCatScan.
Launched as part of the Threatened Species Summit, the app was developed by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre with funding support from the Australian Government Department of the Environment.
Peter West, project officer for development of the app, said: “The purpose of FeralCatScan is to provide the community and land managers with a tool for real time reporting of feral cats, any management activities undertaken, photos of impacts and, most importantly, using that collective information to identify practical solutions to the feral cat problem.
“Feral cats are a nation wide issue needing collective community effort to manage.
“We are never going to eradicate cats, but we can reduce the impacts on wildlife by ensuring management is done efficiently, effectively and humanely in areas where feral cats are having the most impact on wildlife.
“Anyone can use the app or website to record feral cat activity and it is really easy to use.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“If you have seen a feral cat lately then I encourage you to record it in FeralCatScan,” he said.[/social_quote]
The Macarthur region, which faces its own feral cat challenges, is expected to take up the app in big numbers.
The app is also able to be used in the field where mobile reception may be unreliable by storing feral cat records until mobile coverage is available.
Andrew Triggs, acting manager of planning and adaptive management with the South Australian Government on Kangaroo Island, has been trialling the app as a feral cat management, planning and reporting tool.
“On Kangaroo Island it has been found that feral cats eat a total of 50 different bird, mammal, reptile and frog species,’’ he said.
“They also spread diseases to livestock and wildlife. The impact on a small island like this can be substantial and we’re looking at a raft of practical and policy measures to manage the impacts.
“This app will help us in a practical way to strategically identify feral cat hotspots on the island and more efficiently and effectively plan management activities to protect wildlife and agriculture.”
The app is part of the FeralScan suite of app products and is free to download on the App Store for Apple iOS and Google Play for Android mobile devices.
See details at www.feralcatscan.org.au.
This app needs to be used on every continent on the planet. I live on another continent and where the population density is less than 2 people per square mile. But even here I had to shoot and bury hundreds of these invasive-species vermin to stop them from gutting-alive and skinning-alive the last of the native wildlife on my lands. Luckily, the methods I invented to hunt them down was so complete and effective that I’ve not seen even one cat in the whole area in over 5 years now. But I know plenty of other people who are not faring as well.