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:

15/7/10   New Educational Signs produced
The Kangaroo Island Cat Control Committee are pleased to have co-produced three educational signs, which can be viewed here:
Cat Sign 1 (400kb PDF)
Cat Sign 2 (410kb PDF)
Cat Sign 3 (630kb PDF)

22/4/10   PestMaps from the Invasive Animals CRC showing relative abundance of feral cats across Australia
Feral Cats may be found across Australia, but look at the abundance on Kangaroo Island. Scroll down the page on the above link to see a red painted island.

15/3/09   Recently published paper compares cat control methods.
CSIRO recently published a paper in "Wildlife Research" on various feral cat control methods researched in the US:
Evaluation of euthanasia and trap-neuter-return (TNR) programs in managing free-roaming cat populations

Some quotes:
"Population decreases were comparable among euthanasia, TNR and a 50 : 50 combination for all treatment rates when the immigration rate was 0%; however, they were higher for euthanasia at 25% and 50% maximum immigration rates."
"We stress that TNR campaigns may not be appropriate in ecologically sensitive areas or in communities with high rates of nuisance complaints for free-roaming cats."
"...there is evidence that sterilisation may increase survival rates for coyotes and freeroaming cats."

12/8/08   Savannah cat banned from importation into Australia
From the Australian Labor Party website:

Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has banned the Savannah cat from being brought into Australia finding it poses an extreme risk to Australia's environment and biodiversity.

Mr Garrett used his powers under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 to amend the Act's live import list to change the definition of domestic cat to rule out cats with the genes of the African wildcat, the Serval.

2/7/08   KICCC website redesign
Coinciding with the move to our new web address, we have embarked on a redesign of our website. We are retaining the Ned Kelly armour theme developed a couple of years ago, but simplifying the layout and using smaller images to improve page load times.

We appreciate any feedback you have on our activities.