Contest for Children to Hunt Feral Cats Is Scrapped in New Zealand

A hunting contest in rural New Zealand where children competed to kill the most feral cats for prize money has been canceled after a backlash from animal rights organisations.

New Zealand, an island nation, is aggressively trying to control invasive species from its vast native wildlife. But the culling of feral cats remains divisive, and the planned hunt inflamed debates about the morality of the practice and how children should be taught about the management of invasive species.

“There is no right or wrong here,” says James Russell, a conservation biologist at the University of Auckland. While New Zealanders agree that feral cats should be controlled, he says, “the issue touches on all these wider ethical issues: Should children kill cats? Should it be done as a charity race?”

The event will be part of a fundraising competition in June to hunt wild animals in North Canterbury, a region of the country’s South Island. The cat breeding event is new this year, and is open to children under the age of 14, with the winner receiving 250 New Zealand dollars, or about $155, according to a Facebook post by the North Canterbury Hunting Competition.

The feral cat event was announced on Saturday, but included few details on how it would be organized, except that participants would be disqualified if a cat killed was found to be microchipped. The announcement sparked outrage from animal rights advocates, and organizers canceled the cat’s culling on Tuesday because of the backlash.

SAFE, a New Zealand animal rights organisation, is one of the groups calling for the cat hunt to be abolished, citing concerns that the event will glorify hunting animals among children and that domestic cats could be caught in the crossfire.

“It’s bad enough that young people are being taught and encouraged to kill small animals,” said Will Appelbe, a SAFE spokesman. “There is no difference in the physical appearance of feral, stray and pet cats. Disqualifying a dead cat with a microchip is too little, too late.

But supporters, including the event’s organizers, say feral cats are a predatory species that must be eradicated and that the event will teach children how to manage invasive species responsibly. He asked for the cat hunt to be resumed.

Mat Bailey, one of the organizers, said the event was not intended to encourage children to kill cats, but rather to teach them about the wider problem of invasive species.

The children have been hunting rabbits, possums, mice and other invasive species with guns as part of the competition, which will take place over the weekend, he said, “so they will be out here, and we may also include cats because they are the worst from a lot.

“You don’t just want kids to kill cats, it’s the whole problem of invasive species,” he said. The event is about “teaching firearms safety to children; it’s just generally a fun activity for them – taking them out in the fresh air, and making them understand that these animals are destroying native species.

The competition still plans to hunt animals other than cats, he said.

Mr Bailey said the issue had been “blown out of proportion” but admitted organizers had not settled on clear guidelines for “safe hunting practice” when the cat culling event was delivered last weekend. He said organizers had envisioned that children would be accompanied by licensed and trained firearms adults, and that hunters would have to work with local landowners to avoid areas where domestic cats might be.

Organizers called off the cat culling after backlash grew and several sponsors contacted them with concerns. Schools that will receive funding from the event have since received threats, Mr Bailey added.

New Zealand takes a aggressive approach to eradicating invasive species that is widely supported by the public, and events to hunt wild animals are not uncommon. Every year, the town of Alexandra, in the South Island, holds its annual “Great Easter Bunny Hunt” where children and adults treat wild rabbits.

The country has plans to eliminate the three most widespread invasive predator species – opossums, rats and weasels – by 2050 to protect native wildlife.

Feral cats are not included in official eradication plans because it is “politically difficult” given the attachment residents feel to pet cats, said Grant Norbury, a wildlife ecologist with Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, an environment and biodiversity agency in New Zealand.

While hunting feral cats themselves is an acceptable way to control the species, “it’s when you talk about special kids and doing it as a competition, I think it’s politically unwise,” he said.

The problem raises questions about how children should be taught about the eradication of invasive species, said Professor Russell, a University of Auckland biologist.

“On the one hand, there is this argument that we shouldn’t teach children to kill animals – which is true – but if we don’t teach about the impact of feral cats and possums, then we don’t know anything about the impact,” he said.

This is not the first time the country has debated the issue, he said, referring to the incident in 2012 when the school faced backlash for holding a competition through which the most children could dress up a dead possum.

Mr Bailey said the children, including three daughters, enjoyed the hunting competition, which was held for the first time last year. Eliminating the wildcat event will not deter children from participating in other competitions, he said.

“Come a weekend in June, there won’t be any kids sitting at home, they’ll be out chasing everything everywhere,” he said. “It’s a chasing sensation. It’s like fishing.”

While the feral cat event will not take place this year, Mr Bailey wants to find a less controversial way to bring feral cats and children together into next year’s hunting competition, perhaps by creating an event for children to humanely trap.

“It has to be done,” he said.