Jessi Morgan: Predator Free NZ Trust chief executive on feral cats being recognised as pests

The Government has officially recognised feral cats as pests and added them to the Predator Free 2050 list.

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka described them as 'stone cold killers' and says they need to be dealt with to protect New Zealand's native species. 

Predator Free NZ Trust chief executive Jessi Morgan says they've been campaigning on this move for a long time and it's 'exciting' to see it in motion.

"I think New Zealanders are ready for this and they've actually been calling out for it. So I don't think it's going to cause any issue at all." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Together, do for ce Ellen?

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Right, eighteen past five, here we go. It's all on
with the feral cats. They're now officially recognized as a
pest by the government and they're being added to the
Predator Free twenty to fifty hit list. Apparently we could
have anywhere upwards of two point four million feral cats
around the country. The chief executive of Predator Free New
Zealand Trust, Jesse Morgan, is with us on this. Hello, Jesse,
surely hear this. This was the right call. This is overdue,

(00:25):
isn't it.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
This is so so overdue. We've been campaigning on this
for quite a long time, so we're really excited to
see it finally coming to reality.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
When does it they say this now, but when does
it actually like, when do you actually get your hands on,
you know, the.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Cats, handsome the cats. I'm actually not sure on that detail.
I'm not sure if they're added immediately or in the
strategy review, which is due to be released in March
next year, so I think it will be won't be
official tall March.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Okay, now, Jesse, this this is going to cause trouble,
isn't it.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
No, I don't think it is. I think the public
perceptions have really changed around feral cats, and I think
New Zealanders ready for this and have actually been calling
out for it, So I don't think it's going to
cause any issue at all. Cats are really Oh.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
No, you don't have to convince me. I know the
bad guys. But how do you trap a feral cat?

Speaker 1 (01:21):
How do you trap it? Most of the time, well,
there's multiple ways. You Either, if you're trapping in areas
where there might be companion cats, you use a live
capture trap so the cat is caught, is alive. You
can scan it to check if it's a feral cat
or an owned cat, and then you can dispatch of
it normally by fire.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
I see a million ways that somebody's pet is going
to get caught in this, and then there's going to
be a drama and some old bit he's going to
be in the local rag complaining about her pet cat
being killed.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Don't you think, No, Well, we can't afford for that
to happen, you know, like we need to maintain social
license here, so there will be I think there will
need to be changes around what we do with our
owned companion cats and if we if we have compulsory
micro chippink for those cats. Then we can easily identify
what's a owned cat and what is an unowned cat.

(02:10):
And that's that's the change we need in terms of
a policy change.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Who does the killing by the way, like the hunters,
can we help you out or is it designated people?

Speaker 1 (02:20):
I mean a lot of farmers already control feral cats
on their farms, and a number of community groups around
the country. It tends to be done in remote areas
where there's no there's no companion cats and there's just
no reason for any cats to be in those areas.
So that's where it tends to be done. Yeah, but

(02:43):
you know, I'm sure if you want to get involved,
there's plenty of groups.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
Don't say this is how it gets wild, because next
minute I'm trapping cats and it's my neighbor's companion cat
should be doing what were No, No, we don't want
that at all. Jesse, Thanks very much appreciated. Jesse Morgan,
Chief executive of Predator Free Newsyland Trust. Do you think
do we not call them pets anymore? Are they not
pet cats anymore? They are we we're going full noise

(03:07):
companion cat. I really hope not there's something about it.
There's just I don't know. It's just a piece, isn't
It's not a companion. Stop getting weird about your cat.

Speaker 1 (03:17):
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