Aotearoa New Zealand has one of the highest cat ownership rates in the world. Nearly 40% of households have at least one cat – for the most part, we’re fond of our cats.
Unfortunately, domestic cats escape, get lost or are abandoned. It’s estimated that there are millions of feral and stray cats around the motu. Cats are predatory hunters, and they are having a devastating effect on native species.
Keeping an eye on things
Cats are a conservation enigma. While cats prey on rats, which pose significant threats to native species, they are hunters themselves. Even well-fed cats hunt.
Although feral cats are known to have devastating impacts on native species, efforts to cull them often result in a public outcry.
Pest management is an ongoing socio-scientific issue for Aotearoa. We know that species such as cats (and deer, hedgehogs and rabbits) are threats to native ecosystems. However, people hold conflicting views about their labels as pests and how to safely and humanely keep their numbers in check.
In this activity, students use the scenario of feral cat control as the context to explore personal and societal perspectives regarding pests and pest eradication.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
- examine a conservation issue from different value perspectives
- use social, scientific, cultural and economic arguments to support a particular viewpoint
- consider who or what benefits from a particular viewpoint
- reflect on what their personal viewpoints reveal about their perceptions of animals.
Download the Word file (see link below).
Related content
Māori concepts for animal ethics – introduction brings together resources that explore animal ethics with a kaupapa Māori approach. Other resources within this collection:
- The Three Rs of animal ethics
- Māori ethical ideas
- How do Māori ideas relate to animal ethics?
- Theories of animal ethics
Activity ideas
The following activities also explore animals and ethics using information and perspectives from the articles above:
Useful links
Find out more about domestic, stray and feral cats and conservation issues:
- Time to talk about cats – Forest & Bird
- Feral and stray cats – National Pest Control Agencies (see benefits and negative impacts on the New Zealand environment on page 7)
- Feral cats – Department of Conservation
Acknowledgement
This content has been developed in collaboration with Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart (Ngāti Kura, Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu, Pare Hauraki), Auckland University of Technology, and Dr Sally Birdsall, University of Auckland, with funding and support from the Ministry for Primary Industries – Manatū Ahu Matua and the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART).
Animals of Aotearoa and animal ethics
Animals of Aotearoa: Kaupapa Māori Summaries and Exploring the Three Rs of Animal Ethics with Māori Ideas were developed with funding from the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART) and the Ministry for Primary Industries. The silhouette design was created for this project and is the copyright of Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart and Dr Sally Birdsall.
