Estimating the effect of toxic red meat baits on feral cat density in north-eastern New South Wales

Elly Gooch; Annalie Dorph; Jaime Heiniger; Olivia Kimber; Rebecca L Stone; Heath Milne; Georgia Smith; Rebecca Cherubin; Guy Ballard

doi:10.1071/WR25064

Estimating the effect of toxic red meat baits on feral cat density in north-eastern New South Wales

Elly Gooch
, Annalie Dorph
, Jaime Heiniger
, Olivia Kimber
, Rebecca L Stone
, Heath Milne
, Georgia Smith
, Rebecca Cherubin
, Guy Ballard

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Context. The management of feral cats (Felis catus) is crucial to effective species conservation. One management approach is to aerially apply toxic baits (containing sodium monofluoroacetate) to achieve landscape scale control. However, limited bait types are available to target cats.

Aims. In the absence of specific baits (i.e. Eradicat® or Curiosity®) for the control of feral cats in New South Wales (NSW), we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of red meat baits, intended for canid control, to reduce local feral cat density.

Methods. We deployed a grid of 65 camera traps, spaced at approximately 1-km intervals, in the Guy Fawkes River National Park, NSW. The feral cat population was surveyed 7 weeks prior to and post-baiting, separated by a 4-week baiting period that was unmonitored. Cats detected by camera were individually identified and a spatial-mark-resight model was used to estimate the change in feral cat density.

Key results. In total, 34 individual feral cats were identified. The feral cats present after baiting were mostly different to those individuals detected prior to baiting. However, feral cat density was not substantially different between surveys (pre-baiting: 0.56 cats km⁻², 95% CI: 0.39–0.81 cats km⁻²; post-baiting: 0.58 cats km⁻², 95% CI: 0.40–0.84 cats km⁻²).

Conclusions. Aerially deployed red meat baits, intended for canid control, had a negligible effect on feral cat density. The density estimate reported was two times higher than the average cat density previously modelled for natural environments across Australia.

Implications. With a higher-than-expected density, and no clear population reduction from red meat baiting, it is possible the local feral cat population may be having a greater impact on regional biodiversity than previously expected. However, given the lack of replication, we caution against pre-emptively generalising the outcomes of this study across different seasons and ecoregions.

Original language	English
Article number	WR25064
Pages (from-to)	1-9
Journal	Wildlife Research
Volume	53
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1071/WR25064
Publication status	Published - 26 Jun 2026

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10.1071/WR25064

https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/73826

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@article{ea2fed8d85524b6fa11bfcc582227a9e,

title = "Estimating the effect of toxic red meat baits on feral cat density in north-eastern New South Wales",

abstract = "Context. The management of feral cats (Felis catus) is crucial to effective species conservation. One management approach is to aerially apply toxic baits (containing sodium monofluoroacetate) to achieve landscape scale control. However, limited bait types are available to target cats.Aims. In the absence of specific baits (i.e. Eradicat{\textregistered} or Curiosity{\textregistered}) for the control of feral cats in New South Wales (NSW), we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of red meat baits, intended for canid control, to reduce local feral cat density.Methods. We deployed a grid of 65 camera traps, spaced at approximately 1-km intervals, in the Guy Fawkes River National Park, NSW. The feral cat population was surveyed 7 weeks prior to and post-baiting, separated by a 4-week baiting period that was unmonitored. Cats detected by camera were individually identified and a spatial-mark-resight model was used to estimate the change in feral cat density.Key results. In total, 34 individual feral cats were identified. The feral cats present after baiting were mostly different to those individuals detected prior to baiting. However, feral cat density was not substantially different between surveys (pre-baiting: 0.56 cats km−2, 95\% CI: 0.39{\textendash}0.81 cats km−2; post-baiting: 0.58 cats km−2, 95\% CI: 0.40{\textendash}0.84 cats km−2).Conclusions. Aerially deployed red meat baits, intended for canid control, had a negligible effect on feral cat density. The density estimate reported was two times higher than the average cat density previously modelled for natural environments across Australia.Implications. With a higher-than-expected density, and no clear population reduction from red meat baiting, it is possible the local feral cat population may be having a greater impact on regional biodiversity than previously expected. However, given the lack of replication, we caution against pre-emptively generalising the outcomes of this study across different seasons and ecoregions.",

author = "Elly Gooch and Annalie Dorph and Jaime Heiniger and Olivia Kimber and Stone, \{Rebecca L\} and Heath Milne and Georgia Smith and Rebecca Cherubin and Guy Ballard",

year = "2026",

month = jun,

day = "26",

doi = "10.1071/WR25064",

language = "English",

volume = "53",

pages = "1--9",

journal = "Wildlife Research",

issn = "1448-5494",

publisher = "CSIRO Publishing",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Estimating the effect of toxic red meat baits on feral cat density in north-eastern New South Wales

AU - Gooch, Elly

AU - Dorph, Annalie

AU - Heiniger, Jaime

AU - Kimber, Olivia

AU - Stone, Rebecca L

AU - Milne, Heath

AU - Smith, Georgia

AU - Cherubin, Rebecca

AU - Ballard, Guy

PY - 2026/6/26

Y1 - 2026/6/26

N2 - Context. The management of feral cats (Felis catus) is crucial to effective species conservation. One management approach is to aerially apply toxic baits (containing sodium monofluoroacetate) to achieve landscape scale control. However, limited bait types are available to target cats.Aims. In the absence of specific baits (i.e. Eradicat® or Curiosity®) for the control of feral cats in New South Wales (NSW), we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of red meat baits, intended for canid control, to reduce local feral cat density.Methods. We deployed a grid of 65 camera traps, spaced at approximately 1-km intervals, in the Guy Fawkes River National Park, NSW. The feral cat population was surveyed 7 weeks prior to and post-baiting, separated by a 4-week baiting period that was unmonitored. Cats detected by camera were individually identified and a spatial-mark-resight model was used to estimate the change in feral cat density.Key results. In total, 34 individual feral cats were identified. The feral cats present after baiting were mostly different to those individuals detected prior to baiting. However, feral cat density was not substantially different between surveys (pre-baiting: 0.56 cats km−2, 95% CI: 0.39–0.81 cats km−2; post-baiting: 0.58 cats km−2, 95% CI: 0.40–0.84 cats km−2).Conclusions. Aerially deployed red meat baits, intended for canid control, had a negligible effect on feral cat density. The density estimate reported was two times higher than the average cat density previously modelled for natural environments across Australia.Implications. With a higher-than-expected density, and no clear population reduction from red meat baiting, it is possible the local feral cat population may be having a greater impact on regional biodiversity than previously expected. However, given the lack of replication, we caution against pre-emptively generalising the outcomes of this study across different seasons and ecoregions.

AB - Context. The management of feral cats (Felis catus) is crucial to effective species conservation. One management approach is to aerially apply toxic baits (containing sodium monofluoroacetate) to achieve landscape scale control. However, limited bait types are available to target cats.Aims. In the absence of specific baits (i.e. Eradicat® or Curiosity®) for the control of feral cats in New South Wales (NSW), we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of red meat baits, intended for canid control, to reduce local feral cat density.Methods. We deployed a grid of 65 camera traps, spaced at approximately 1-km intervals, in the Guy Fawkes River National Park, NSW. The feral cat population was surveyed 7 weeks prior to and post-baiting, separated by a 4-week baiting period that was unmonitored. Cats detected by camera were individually identified and a spatial-mark-resight model was used to estimate the change in feral cat density.Key results. In total, 34 individual feral cats were identified. The feral cats present after baiting were mostly different to those individuals detected prior to baiting. However, feral cat density was not substantially different between surveys (pre-baiting: 0.56 cats km−2, 95% CI: 0.39–0.81 cats km−2; post-baiting: 0.58 cats km−2, 95% CI: 0.40–0.84 cats km−2).Conclusions. Aerially deployed red meat baits, intended for canid control, had a negligible effect on feral cat density. The density estimate reported was two times higher than the average cat density previously modelled for natural environments across Australia.Implications. With a higher-than-expected density, and no clear population reduction from red meat baiting, it is possible the local feral cat population may be having a greater impact on regional biodiversity than previously expected. However, given the lack of replication, we caution against pre-emptively generalising the outcomes of this study across different seasons and ecoregions.

U2 - 10.1071/WR25064

DO - 10.1071/WR25064

M3 - Article

SN - 1448-5494

VL - 53

SP - 1

EP - 9

JO - Wildlife Research

JF - Wildlife Research

IS - 6

M1 - WR25064

ER -

Estimating the effect of toxic red meat baits on feral cat density in north-eastern New South Wales

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