Kangaroo Island Cat Control Committee

Impact of sarcosporidiosis on South Australian sheep farmers:

This graphic clearly demonstrates the seriousness of the sarco problem on Kangaroo Island. Sarcosporidiosis is a parasite that infects sheep and is co-hosted in cats. It can be eliminated by removing cats.

Losses to farmers result from:

• higher abattoir costs - separate processing needed
• reduced carcasse weight due to trimming
• cost burden of cat control

News:

17/6/2011   Chairman Jack has updated his introduction to the website
CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS ON THE STATUS OF THE Kangaroo Island Cat Control Committee

3/6/2011   Tick and flea borne diseases caught from cats, Rickettsia and Bartonella.
Exotic animal disease newsletter from the Australian Government May 2011 issue.

Tick and flea borne diseases caught from cats, Rickettsia and Bartonella.

Rickettsia felis, an infectious agent of the flea-borne Spotted Fever Group has recently been detected in Western Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The first reported human cases of R. Felis were recently found in 2 adults and 3 children following exposure to kittens infested with fleas (and R. Felis), (http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/194_01_030111/wil10168_fm.html).

This follows a study reporting R.felis and Bartonella clarridgeiae in cats and fleas in Australia (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751-0813.2010.00569.x/full)

These findings raise the concern that the incidence of these diseases may be under reported in Australia .

17/11/2010   Presentation - 15 December 2010
Andrew Bengsen, the Feral Animal Project Officer from Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Board will be making a presentation: "Feral Cats on Kangaroo Island - Control Techniques and Management Strategies".

When: Wednesday 15th December, 2010, 7:30pm
Where: NRM Board Room, Dauncey Street, Kingscote

View/Download Flyer (280kb PDF).

2/9/2010   Feral cats wiping out endangered bush species
ABC News report on problems facing native animals in Northern Australia, suggests cats are causing more damage than cane toads and fire.

Feral cats wiping out endangered bush species

26/8/2010   Genetic Structure of Feral Cat Populations on Kangaroo Island
The Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Board has been working with the Kangaroo Island Cat Control Committee (KICCC) since 2007 to collect genetic samples from feral cats on Dudley Peninsula.

The Dudley Peninsula is connected to the main body of Kangaroo Island by a narrow isthmus, about 1 km wide at its narrowest point, which might act as a barrier to restrict migration. If the potential for migration of feral cats across the isthmus is relatively low, the Dudley Peninsula could be a useful management unit for extensive feral cat control because the rate at which cats are replaced by immigration would be low.

Read more about the Dudley Peninsula genetic survey of cats here...