Efforts to protect native wildlife in Australia and New Zealand have received a significant boost with the development of a new bait designed to humanely control feral cat populations. The Department of Conservation (DOC) in New Zealand has announced that a specially formulated meat-based bait, known as Felixers™, has demonstrated strong early results in field trials conducted in remote conservation areas.
Feral cats are considered one of the most damaging invasive species in Australasia. In New Zealand alone, they are estimated to kill millions of native birds, lizards, and insects every year. The country’s unique biodiversity, evolved in the absence of mammalian predators, makes it especially vulnerable. As part of wider predator control and biodiversity protection strategies, DOC has been searching for more effective and targeted tools to reduce feral cat numbers without harming native species or domestic pets.
More: australia feral cat
The new bait, developed in collaboration with leading conservation scientists and wildlife managers, has been engineered to appeal specifically to feral cats while minimizing the risk to non-target species. The bait is laced with a fast-acting toxin and is delivered through automated devices that use sensors and AI to detect and target feral cats based on size and heat signature.
In a series of field trials on offshore islands and remote reserves, the bait has achieved high success rates in reducing feral cat activity without affecting other wildlife. DOC Director of Threats Management, Dr. Helen Blackwell, emphasized the importance of such innovation: “We need tools that are not just effective but also ethical and precise. This new bait offers a targeted approach that aligns with our commitment to humane predator management.”
Animal welfare groups have cautiously welcomed the development, acknowledging the need for population control while urging ongoing monitoring to ensure that the bait remains safe and humane. The New Zealand SPCA has indicated it will continue to assess the long-term implications and support the responsible deployment of such technologies.
Beyond New Zealand, the bait has drawn international interest. In Australia, where feral cats are also a major threat to native wildlife, similar trials are underway. The broader vision is to integrate the bait into national conservation plans as part of an effort to meet the ambitious goal of predator-free ecosystems by mid-century.
While still in the trial phase, DOC is optimistic about scaling up use of the bait in select areas with high conservation value. If successful, the bait could become a critical part of the toolkit in the fight to save vulnerable species from extinction.
As biodiversity loss accelerates globally, this innovation stands as a hopeful reminder that science and compassion can work hand in hand to restore balance to fragile ecosystems.
The new bait developed to control feral cats in New Zealand utilizes sodium fluoroacetate, commonly known as 1080, as its active toxin. Each bait is an 18-gram meat sausage containing 4.5 milligrams of 1080. This compound is highly toxic and is designed to be lethal to feral cats upon ingestion. Comment: this is not a ‘new’ toxin for feral cats. Nothing new here.
Additionally, the Department of Conservation (DOC) is exploring the use of para-aminopropiophenone (PAPP) in bait formulations. PAPP is known for its rapid action, causing methemoglobinemia—a condition where hemoglobin is unable to carry oxygen—leading to death in feral cats within approximately two hours. This toxin is considered more humane by some experts due to its swift effect and the availability of an antidote.
Commentary: A Better Solution? The Ethics of Killing vs. Contraception in Feral Cat Control
While the development of targeted toxic bait to reduce feral cat populations may represent a scientific breakthrough, it inevitably raises ethical concerns. At its core, this method still relies on the deliberate killing of animals—albeit invasive ones—to achieve conservation goals. Even with assurances of rapid action and non-target specificity, the process is inherently cruel. Death by poison, however quick, removes the chance for an alternative future for these animals—creatures who, after all, did not choose to be born into wild or unmanaged urban environments.
There is a growing body of thought among conservationists and animal welfare advocates that long-term population control should prioritize non-lethal approaches, particularly fertility control. Immunocontraceptives, hormone-laced baits, or gene drives could—in theory—reduce reproduction over time without the suffering associated with lethal methods.
So why aren’t such options being used now?
The answer is part scientific, part practical. Fertility control baits are complex to develop, expensive to deploy, and often less immediately effective than lethal solutions. Contraceptive agents must be ingested in the right quantities by the right species, multiple times in some cases, and need to persist long enough in the environment to have a population-level effect. Unlike poisons, which have measurable and often quick results, contraceptive programs require patience, funding, and long-term ecological monitoring.
But this is no reason not to pursue them. In a better world—one with more funding for ethical science and a deeper commitment to animal welfare—feral cat bait wouldn’t need to kill. It would render reproduction impossible without causing pain or distress. Populations would decline gradually, giving ecosystems room to recover and preserving the dignity of the animals themselves.
Until then, conservation will remain a battlefield of trade-offs—between urgency and compassion, effectiveness and ethics. And as we pursue technological solutions, we must also ask harder questions: What kind of world are we trying to save, and who gets to live in it?
More: killing feral cats
For many years I have railed against killing feral cats in all forms as it is essentially cruel and a form of speciesism while ignoring the origins feral cats on the Australian continent – human carelessness! We have a duty to act humanely towards feral cats on any continent or in any country as we caused the problem in the first place.
