The Department of Conservation is currently seeking feedback on its Predator Free 2050 strategy. 

The current strategy aims to completely eliminate five predators from New Zealand: rats, stoats, ferrets, weasels and possums. 

However, they’re now asking whether feral cats should be added to the list as well. 

Predator Free NZ Trust CEO Jessi Morgan told Francesca Rudkin that there’s estimated to be between 2.5 million and 14 million feral cats in the native bush. 

She says that at the time the strategy was originally created, people were less aware of the impact they were having on native species, but there’s now an awareness and willingness to have them included. 

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