We have updated our practices around capturing feral cats.
Recently a live trap was deployed in response to a local suspected sighting of ferrets (which could decimate species such as kiwi if they were to invade the reserve). A pet cat was caught in the trap. Unfortunately, it was mistaken for a feral cat and dispatched. We are very sorry this happened and we acknowledge that we should have taken extra steps to identify the cat.
As a result we created a voluntary cat register where local pet owners can send us images and details of their pet cats, which enables us to alert the owner when their cat starts showing up on cameras in the Reserve, or if it has been caught inside the Reserve.
We will obtain a microchip reader enabling us to determine if we are dealing with a feral cat or a pet cat. Moving forward, any live caught pet cat will be released and contact made with the owner where necessary.
At Bream Head Scenic Reserve, we use traps that can humanely kill rodents, possums and mustelids, as well as feral cats. We typically do not use traps that catch live animals, but with the above measures taken we hope to avoid making the same mistake in the future.