A feral cat that wiped out an entire endangered black-fronted tern colony in Canterbury has finally been caught – more than a year after the attack.
The tom cat killed and ate birds, chicks and eggs from all 95 nests of a tarapirohe (black-fronted tern) colony on a large island in the Waiau Toa/Clarence River in December 2024. The colony was abandoned, and the local tern population plunged from about 180 to just 20.
Contractors Jasen and Shannon Mears of J & S Mears caught the 6kg culprit during a Department of Conservation (DOC) predator control operation targeting feral cats in the area
Shannon Mears said the cat – identified by its long stride and distinctive prints – wasn't an easy catch, with the pair taking three nights to lure and snare the moggy.
"Each morning, we would find the cat had yet again evaded or ignored traps and bait. Its prints clearly showed him visiting the river near the same tern colony he decimated last year to check the water level," she said.
"We went to great lengths to lure it with whole rabbits as decoys, wing traps and buried leg-hold traps covered by tissue paper and soil, in which it was eventually caught."
Mears said the tomcat managed to escape after being caught and hid in a den about 200m away in the middle of a campsite until the pair's dog tracked it down.
Department of Conservation South Marlborough principal ranger Pat Crowe said the trapping effort was "good news" after the "devastating" bird attack.
"It was sad to see the impact a single cat had on an entire colony of these special birds when everyone was working so hard to protect them," he said. "It's gratifying it has now been removed along with 10 other feral cats."
"Controlling predators like feral cats, ferrets and stoats is difficult work, especially when you’re dealing with trap-shy individuals but it’s critical to give species like tarapirohe and other braided river birds a fighting chance."
The Department of Conservation said the Waiau Toa/Clarence River remained an important habitat for black-fronted tern, with at least 12 colonies recorded nesting on the island this year and 206 nests recorded within the six colonies.
The black-fronted was classified as "threatened - nationally endangered", with a declining population of 5000-10,000 birds.
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