The National Feral Cat and Fox Management Program acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises their continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and knowledge, and to Elders past and present.
Indigenous hunting of feral cats is a method that should be used by First Nations Traditional Owners with knowledge of traditional hunting practices.
Since the 1880s, First Nations people have hunted feral cats for meat, a practice that was once widespread across Australia. Today, this practice is primarily observed in the Nyirripi community in the Northern Territory and Kiwirrkurra community in Western Australia.
Traditional hunting methods involve considerable skill and knowledge, and is a promising tool for feral cat control in remote areas for targeted control. Successfully hunting feral cats requires an understanding of their habitats, behaviours and effective tracking and euthanising techniques. Typically, a hunting group consists of around four people, and an average hunt lasts about an hour. A team can remove up to four feral cats in a day
Indigenous hunting is an excellent method for eliminating problematic feral cats from specific areas, like within a fenced refuge habitat, burrows of threatened species like bilbies or greater desert skinks, or during periods when native species are exceptionally at risk, such as after a wildfire or during the breeding period.
The collaboration between Indigenous communities and the scientific community is a promising strategy in the fight against feral cats. In the Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected Area, over a seven-year period, Indigenous hunting has removed more than 200 cats, and led to an increase in the number of active Tjalapa (Great Desert Skink) burrows in the area.
Indigenous hunting also holds cultural significance. Many native animals are culturally important as part of the Dreaming, as food sources, or for utilitarian purposes, and community Elders consider it important that younger generations know and see these species. In this way, using traditional hunting not only contributes to conservation efforts but also functions as an activity to preserve cultural practices and knowledge.
Kiwirrkurra ranger, Nolia, is an extremely skilled and knowledgeable feral cat hunter, and shares her knowledge with fellow rangers to help protect threatened and culturally important species on her Country. Photo: Kate Crossings.
Threatened bilbies are one of the species being protected by First Nations rangers and communities. Photo: Ken Griffiths.
Advantages
- Indigenous hunting is very target-specific.
- Indigenous hunting has a very low environmental impact.
- Indigenous hunting supports, and is associated with, cultural activities on Country.
- Indigenous tracking experts are often able to locate and eliminate feral cats faster and more efficiently than shooters engaging in spotlighting with firearms.
Experienced Kiwirrkurra Ranger John T uses his skills hunts feral cats on his Country to protect native wildlife like threatened bilbies and greater skinks. Photo: Rachel Paltridge, Indegenous Desert Alliance.
Things to consider when undertaking Indigenous hunting
- Hunting is very labour-intensive and only targets a small area of interest. Indigenous hunting is less applicable for a larger scale.
- Expert trackers achieve the best results when working in sandy areas with sparse vegetation because it makes tracking easier. In other environments, Indigenous hunting can be less effective.
- Cats are often favoured as pets in remote First Nations communities. Improving understanding of the impacts of cats can help increase community support for feral cat control, as well as improve pet cat containment.
Feral cats impact threatened and culturally significant species like this Northern Quoll through competition and predation. Photo: Gill Basnett.
Effective use
The hunting techniques used by Indigenous communities are successful due to the familiarity of expert trackers with the environment. Trackers often reside in the area, and this gives them an understanding of the environment. To provide the best benefits for threatened and other species, sites should be revistied on a regular basis, and hunting shoule be undertaken with other pest and land management practices such as habitat management. Traditional hunting practices require extensive expertise and understanding.
Training in these practices should be provided by First Nations people with this knowledge. Their unique approach not only helps control the feral cat population, but also plays a significant role in preserving native ecosystems.
Indigenous hunting is a niche method of control, undertaken by skilled people, like Yukultji and Yalti, working on their own land to protect threatened native and culturally significant species. Photo: Rachel Paltridge, Indigenous Desert Alliance.
Laws about Indigenous hunting
It is important that you are either a Traditional Owner or are working with the support and permission of the Traditional Owners on the land you are undertaking hunting.
Some states and territories allow Aboriginal people to undertake a range of activities for customary purposes on reserves. Traditional activities include hunting, making and using traditional medicine, and other customary or cultural activities.
On other land, you must have landholder or land manager permission to undertake traditional hunting practices, unless native title rights apply.
Banner photo: Mantua James burning. Image: Dannica Shultz.
Scott West conducting fire management on the Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected Area (IPA). Planned burning can help improve habitat for native species, improving their chance of avoiding predation. Photo: Indigenous Desert Alliance.