Feral cat caught on camera with a brush-tailed phascogale (Phascogale tapoatafa). Photo – DBCA
- Five community organisations funded through round 3 of the Feral Cat Management Grant program
- Projects will support threatened species through innovative feral cat management and research
- Part of the Cook Government's nation-first Feral Cat Management Strategy
Five community organisations will share $500,000 to improve feral cat management in Western Australia thanks to the Cook Government's Feral Cat Management Grant program.
Warren Catchments Council received the largest share of funding, receiving more than $180,000 to expand ethical feral cat management across new areas of the Warren region. The project aims to protect the region's unique threatened fauna, which includes numbats, woylies, and western ringtail possums.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy was awarded nearly $140,000 for a project that will address crucial knowledge gaps in the genome sequencing of feral cat populations across priority areas of the State. The research will assess the feasibility of new genetic biocontrol technologies and will be delivered in collaboration with CSIRO and the WA feral cat management community.
To date, the grant program has invested $1.5 million in 13 projects to help mitigate the devastating impacts of feral cats across the State.
The fourth and final round of Feral Cat Management Grant funding will open for applications next year. For more information, visit: www.dpird.wa.gov.au/fcmg
Comments attributed to the Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn:
"Feral cats pose the greatest threat to many of WA's most threatened native species, which is why the Cook Government delivered the nation's first Feral Cat Strategy to crack down on their devastating impacts.
"We're empowering community organisations to protect some of our State's most vulnerable species, including the chuditch, hooded plover and numbat, which are being pushed to the brink of extinction.
"Congratulations to this year's Feral Cat Management Grant recipients. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of this important work."
| Organisation | Region | Project title | Project objective | Grant amount (ex GST) |
| Warren Catchments Council | South West | Warren region feral cat management project
| Extend ethical feral cat management through targeted control, community awareness, and research development. | $185,704 |
| Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee Inc | Great Southern | Tenure blind feral cat control - Eungedup trial | Provide feral cat control across Eungedup Wetlands, which support threatened species on the south coast of WA. | $97,189 |
| Friends of the Dale River Inc | Wheatbelt | Dale River reserve feral cat management program | Undertake feral cat management at the Class A Dale River Reserve and participating surrounding properties to protect and preserve native fauna. | $23,520 |
| Australian Wildlife Conservancy | State-wide | Feral cat population genomics supporting management and biocontrol | Support the collation and whole genome sequencing of feral cat tissue samples across a range of land tenures in priority areas throughout WA. | $139,365 |
| Bush Blocks Guardians Inc. | Wheatbelt | BBG feral cat management program | Undertake feral cat management on a 666-hectare conservation property in the Shire of Westonia. | $54,222 |
