Norfolk Island National Park – Felixer trial 2024 - Community Questions

Question: Is it true that more autopsies on captured cats have shown more evidence of fur than feathers in their gut?

• Answer: It is true that cat stomach contents included a higher percentage of fur than feathers, however this is most likely due to the fact that cats groom themselves and ingest a large amount of their own fur, and cats will pluck most feathers from a bird before they consume it, whereas they consume most or all of the rodent (including fur). This means that we cannot associate the number of feathers in a cat’s stomach with the number of birds they kill. There is also evidence of invertebrates in cat stomachs, showing that they are a considerable threat to both native birds and insects.

Question: Is it possible that rats have a part in the demise of our native wildlife? It’s well known that they will attack everything and anything when they are hungry.

• Answer: It is well known that rats are a key threat to birds, reptiles, invertebrates and plants worldwide. To manage the threat, we have been consistently baiting rodents with rodenticide across the national park since 1993. Our rodent control strategy is one of the largest programs we run in the park, and we have seen through our monitoring that we are maintaining a low population of rodents. We approach the threat of cats as comprehensively as we approach the threat of rodents, and this is why we are exploring additional control. It is important to reiterate that all we are doing at this stage is exploring new technology to see if it will work. This is the first step, not a final decision.

Question: With so many people on the island owning one or more cats, has it become necessary to limit domestic numbers and/or educate cat owners about the destruction that results from them wandering around at night, while the birds are nesting?

• Answer: We believe such measures could help to decrease the impact of cats on Norfolk Island's threatened species. The national park has played a part in education over the last 3 years, including by providing the community with information sheets on a regular basis. We have also funded 5 subsidised microchipping and de-sexing clinics, which has resulted in 102 domestic cats being desexed and 126 domestic cats being microchipped. Beyond the national park, responsibility for cat control issues on the island is led by local authorities such as the Administrator and Regional Council. It is important that community members do their part to protect Norfolk Island’s native wildlife by keeping their cats contained on their properties, especially at night.

Question: Cats hunt rats and mice…will we be in danger of following Lord Howe’s footsteps in destroying too many and tipping the balance, resulting in a rat epidemic that could result in the major baiting they were forced to endure?

• Answer: The island is already exposed to a large amount of rodent bait from the national park rodent management program, private land holders, and regional council. Reducing the number of cats on the island will not impact the rodent population, as rodent populations are primarily driven by availability of resources e.g. guava fruits, pine seeds, invertebrates and birds. This has already been shown conclusively in many island ecosystems across the world. As the new traps would only be operating in the national park, this would not affect rodent numbers around private property.

Question: Many cats are adept at removing their collars, let alone blue tooth ones. If the majority of our cats here are microchipped, can this be used instead of a blue tooth collar?

• Answer: The Felixers cannot scan for microchips. We will make every effort to ensure that cat owners have access to Bluetooth collars, but reiterate that we have never tolerated free-roaming cats in the national park. The national park should be a place of safety from cat predation for the protection of our unique wildlife. That is what the legislation requires of us, and what the community expects.

Question: If there is to be a trial of the ‘Felixer’, will a fluorescent dye be used, so we are able to fully understand whether it is targeting the feral cats as opposed to the domestic.

• Answer: The trial that we will be undertaking in the next three months is a photo-only, non-toxic trial. This means that the Felixers will not contain any toxin or gel and will only take images of cats. We will be reviewing all images to determine the proportion of feral cats to domestic cats, noting that we can only determine domestic cats based on the presence of collars. During the trial, we will be aiming to provide Bluetooth collars to all cat owners that live on or near the boundary of the national park to best understand how many domestic cats are free-roaming in the national park.

Question: Cats travel up to 5km in a night; domestic or otherwise. Are we sure that it will only target the feral cats.

• Answer: Felixers will only target cats that are not wearing a Bluetooth collar. It will be the responsibility of the cat owner to ensure their cat is wearing a functional Bluetooth collar, as it is ultimately the responsibility of the cat owner to ensure the safety of their cat. Domestic cats should not be roaming in the national park at any time.

Question: The method is to spray the fur and they die after cleaning their fur. Is this instantaneous or slow acting and painful?

• Answer: The trial that we will be undertaking in the next three months is a photo-only, non-toxic trial. This means that the Felixers will not contain any toxin or gel and will only take images of cats. Further community consultation will be undertaken to discuss the results of the trial before any further steps are taken.

If the Felixers were used in toxic-mode, then the toxin used would be 1080. This is fast acting, with symptoms occurring between 30 mins and 3 hours of ingestion, and poisoned cats dying within 4-10 hours. Cats respond differently to 1080 than other mammals like dogs; the effects are more similar to PAPP poisoning, which is considered a humane toxin to euthanise cats: Feral cat control methods humaneness matrix - PestSmart

Question: If it is sprayed on the fur, is it possible for the spray to end up on leaves, trees, wild fruit as the cats pass by and have an effect on other pets and humans?

• Answer: 1080 Felixer capsules are delivered using a squirted gel, which prevents the production of aerosols. 1080 is also completely and rapidly biodegradable. It and is a naturally occurring compound found in native plants, so it does not accumulate in soils or waterways. The dose of 1080 is a lethal dose for cats, but not for humans, so as long as humans don’t directly touch the gel, they will remain safe. An adult human would need to ingest 7 full capsules before it became lethal. All operators of the Felixer must undergo training prior to deploying the machines (even in non – toxic mode). If the Felixers were to be deployed in toxic mode, there is legislation regarding signage and placement of the devices to ensure the risk to any non-target animals is minimal.

Question: Will an antidote be available in case of accidental poisoning?

• Answer: There is currently no antidote for 1080. If a domestic pet is suspected to have been poisoned, then the owner should take them to the vet immediately. If we move to the toxic mode, pet owners will need to maintain responsibility for their animals including keeping their dogs on leads at all times when walking in the national park (which is already a requirement), and ensuring their cat is wearing a Bluetooth collar and keeping them contained. As long as pet owners maintain these practices, their pets will be safe.

Question: In the natural order of things, Cats kill rats and feral chooks. Will there be an excessive overpopulation of feral chooks, resulting in more crop damage? In saying that, a certain amount of feral chooks are needed to keep the army grub under some form of control.

• Answer: Feral chooks and rats both breed far more rapidly than cats can eat them, so it is extremely unlikely that reducing the population of free-roaming cats will have any impact on the populations of feral chooks or rats. Additionally, we manage rodents extensively in the national park, and also pay a local contractor to control feral chooks in the national park and around the island.

Question: Could there be an initiative for residents, who choose to leave, to have access to free euthanasia for their cats, to prevent them being left behind when they go?

• Answer: This is the responsibility of cat owners and they need to consider this when choosing to own a cat. It is our responsibility as managers of the national park to preserve and protect native species within the national park.

Question: Will the Felixer be clearly marked to ensure no one trips over it or is affected by it?

• Answer: The Felixers will only be placed deep in the park away from all public walking tracks. As long as visitors to the park stay on public walking tracks, they will not come across the Felixers. As per legislation, we will provide clear signage around the park if we begin using 1080 with Felixer traps after the results of the trial are known, and we have taken those results to the community to keep the community informed.

Question: Is it true that there is no internet in most of the National Parks so the blue tooth on pets cats would not work?

• Answer: It is true that internet service can be patchy in some sections of the national park however this will have absolutely no impact on the functionality of the Bluetooth devices. The Bluetooth device does not require internet service to work as it uses radio waves to connect devices. As a result, Bluetooth can work even if you don't have an internet connection or internet service. We regularly use Bluetooth devices in the park (for our Goodnature rat traps for example) without internet access, so we are confident that the Bluetooth collars will function well in all areas of the park.

Question: What happen if non feral cat gets sprayed, goes home and people cuddle cat with toxin on it?

• · Answer: The 1080 sprayed onto the cat will be visible to humans as the gel contains red dye. Domestic pet owners who allow their cats outdoors will need to remain vigilant for their pet when it returns home, and any domestic cat that has been sprayed with the toxin would need to be taken to the vet immediately for assessment. Individual Felixer doses are carefully measured to be lethal to cats, but are sub-lethal, even when ingested, to all humans.

Question: How are the tourists going to react to dead cats in parks? They get upset at dead birds but dead cats?

• · Answer: The trial that we will be undertaking in the next three months is a photo-only, non-toxic trial. This means that the Felixers will not contain any toxin or gel and will only take images of cats. It is important to remember that the national park is important both for visitors to experience and for the protection of Norfolk’s most at risk plants and animals. The national park is legislatively bound to protect native wildlife.