Predator Free 2050 is a plan put forth by the New Zealand government with the goal of eradicating all of its mammalian introduced predators by 2050.[1][2][3][4][failed verification]
Opposition to planned procedures associated with poisoning feral cats arose in September 2018.[5]
It's a truly audacious plan - ridding the country of rats, stoats and possums - but proponents hope the reward will be a chorus of songbirds. [...] the government has pledged an additional $28 million over four years and an extra $7m each year following, over and above the $70 million already spent annually on predator control.
The New Zealand government has announced a 'world-first' project to make the nation predator free by 2050. [...] The prime minister, John Key, said on Monday it would undertake a radical pest extermination programme – which if successful would be a global first – aiming to wipe out the introduced species of rats, stoats and possums nation-wide in a mere 34 years.
New Zealand has set a goal of eradicating all non-native predators within 35 years in order to protect the country's indigenous wildlife. [...] The clock is ticking for stoats, rats and possums, as Prime Minister John Key wants 'every single part' of New Zealand to be free of the creatures by 2050, the New Zealand Herald reports. [...] Feral cats are also in the government's sights [...].
[...] Russell is taking on a much bigger challenge. He is coordinating research and development for a programme that the government announced last July to eliminate all invasive vertebrate predators — rats, brushtail possums, stoats and more — from New Zealand by 2050 to protect the country's rare endemic species.
The stray cat population is estimated to be about 200,000 and feral cats are listed as a pest in most regional councils' pest management strategies, but as of last year, only four councils invest in widespread suppression of cat populations.