The final push to remove feral cats from Kangaroo Island’s Dudley Peninsula has received a major funding boost, with almost $4 million committed by federal, state and philanthropic partners to help protect some of South Australia’s most vulnerable native species.
The Albanese Government will contribute an additional $2.7 million, while the South Australian Government is delivering $800,000 and the Invasive Species Council has secured $370,000 in philanthropic funding.
The investment will support the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board’s ambitious goal of eradicating feral cats from the Dudley Peninsula by 2030. Once complete, the area will become the largest human-inhabited feral cat-free region anywhere in the world.
The project is designed to create a permanent refuge for threatened wildlife including the Kangaroo Island echidna, southern brown bandicoot, hooded plover and critically endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart, all of which are vulnerable to feral cat predation.
Federal Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt said the investment would help secure the island’s unique biodiversity for future generations.
“Sadly, feral cats have contributed to the extinction of more than 20 Australian mammal species, and with Kangaroo Island home to more than 30 threatened species, tackling feral cats is a big part of ensuring those species have a healthy future.”
The Dudley Peninsula has already been separated from the rest of Kangaroo Island by a three-kilometre cat-proof fence at Pelican Lagoon, preventing feral cats from returning once removed.
The eradication program uses a range of advanced technologies including AI-connected cameras that provide near real-time cat detections, remote-monitored trapping systems, thermal drones, specially trained detection dogs and a community “call in a cat” reporting program.
South Australian Environment Minister Emily Bourke said the project was already delivering encouraging results.
“This work has already significantly reduced feral cat numbers across the Dudley Peninsula, and we are starting to see the return of native species such as the southern brown bandicoot, which hasn’t been spotted in the region by local residents for more than 60 years.”
The funding is also expected to strengthen Kangaroo Island’s biosecurity by increasing native wildlife populations and helping ecosystems better withstand future threats, including the potential arrival of H5 avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.
Kangaroo Island has already successfully eradicated feral deer, goats and pigs, making the feral cat project the latest step in protecting the island’s globally significant biodiversity.
If successful, the Dudley Peninsula project will stand as one of Australia’s most significant conservation achievements, demonstrating how governments, conservation organisations and local communities can work together to permanently remove one of the country’s most damaging invasive predators.
