Feral Cats Info Night - Landcare Tasmania

23rd June 2022 |

Feral cats have caused some of the most significant harm to our natural ecosystems and ag landscapes in Tasmania. Predation and diseases like 'toxo' and 'sarco' cause major damage to wildlife and farms... but what can we do to stop the damage?

Feral cats have become widespread in Tasmania, and Landcare Tasmania are helping to educate the community on how we can tackle the problem. We will be holding a free workshop on Tuesday July 5th 2022. Guest speakers will provide us with valuable information, and take us through practical actions we can take to manage feral cats safely and effectively.

Event details:

When: Tuesday, July 5th 6:00- 7:30pm

Where: Dunalley Hall, 5 Franklin St, Dunalley

Register Here

What's the problem?

Feral cats, and other invasive, introduced species, have many negative effects on both our ecosystems and agriculture.

They affect our native animals through predation, competition, and disease transmission. Cats can carry the diseases Toxoplasmosis and Sarcocystosis, which are both contagious to livestock, and can cause miscarriage and mortality of newborn animals. Upon transmission to livestock, their meat becomes unsuitable for human consumption.

Toxoplasmosis is also fatal to many native Australian animals, including bandicoots, wombats, and birds- and it's likely that feral cats have contributed to the extinction of some native Australian species.

What can we do?

Wide-scale eradication of feral cats has been difficult due to expense, a lack of effective techniques, a lack of clear legislation, and the fact that the exact population of cats is unknown. However, new technologies and community action such as the Coast Care Pilot Cat Control Project have shown promising results. This workshop aims to provide education and practical solutions we can all use to help control the problem.

The info night

We are lucky to have experts in the field joining us for this information session and sharing their wisdom and ideas with us:

Bruce Jackson: Bruce is Tasmania’s former senior vet officer at NRE and now works as a vet consultant. He has worked extensively on farm biosecurity and cat borne diseases affecting agriculture.

Gill Basnett: Gill is the National Feral Cat and Fox Management Coordinator at the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions.

John Bowden: John has many years of working as a feral can management contractor across Tasmania, and now works also as the feral cat management officer for Latrobe Council.

Across the state, there are many Landcare groups working to combat the effects of feral cats in Tasmania. This session aims to leave you feeling confident in your ability to help manage the problem.

Come along to our workshop to learn how what's being done, and how you can help to manage feral cats in your area. We hope to see you there!

This workshop is part of our Outreach Program which aims to increase capacity for Landcarers so that all our land and coasts can be cared for by the community. Funded by: State Government's Landcare Action Grants.