Review of feral cat eradications on islands

Abstract

Feral cats are a substantial threat to native and endemic fauna on islands and are being eradicated with increasing frequency. Worldwide, 87 campaigns have been completed on 83 islands, for a total area of 114,173 ha. Nineteen unsuccessful eradication attempts are known on 15 islands and lessons learnt from those failures are provided. At least fi ve campaigns are currently underway. We review past cat eradication campaigns, and the methods used to eradicate and detect cats in those campaigns. We also review recent advances in eradication and detection methods. We outline proposed eradications and document a trend for increasingly larger islands being considered, but note that although post-eradication conservation impacts are generally positive, there have been some negative ecosystem impacts.