Cats pose a significant threat to many nationally listed threatened species across Australia. Cats are a threat for 124 listed threatened species and have been implicated in at least 31 mammal extinctions since European colonisation. Feral, stray and pet cats kill over three billion animals every year in Australia. In Western Australia, cats are a significant threat to native fauna across all regions, covering multiple land tenures. There is a real opportunity to enhance outcomes for biodiversity conservation by improving the management of cats.

The Western Australian Feral Cat Working Group (the Working Group) provides a strategic focal point for cat management in the state. The Working Group provides links to key stakeholders at the state and national level to drive delivery of more effective, resource-efficient and humane cat management outcomes in Western Australia by a cross-tenure, context specific approach to:

a) communicating and linking initiatives, innovations and progress on managing the threat of cats;
b) synthesising and sharing knowledge and education on managing cat threats, collaborative management programs, and both tools and techniques available in WA;
c) building relevant partnerships and cooperation on cat management;
d) coordinating and facilitating a prioritised and collaborative approach to addressing knowledge gaps for cat management via research; and
e) providing a unified access point for information, data and methodologies on cat management activity.

The focus of the Working Group will be guided at a higher level by priorities shaped by policy at the State and National level, including:

• The Australian Government’s Threatened Species Strategy, with reference where relevant to the Threat abatement plan for predation by feral cats;
• The Western Australian Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007;
• The Western Australian Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016; and
• The Western Australian Cat Act 2011.