NZ is taking aim at feral cats. Are we ready for the ethical and practical implications?

WELLINGTON: (Dec 7) Conservationists have long anticipated the recent announcement that the national effort to eradicate possums, stoats and rats will now include feral cats.

But the government’s decision steers New Zealand’s Predator Free 2050 mission into potentially fractious territory.

It suggests conservation messaging has effectively recast wild-living cats as predators. In doing so, they become the kind of problem that can be solved through the conventional logic of pest control.