Feral cat terrorising New Zealand’s rare ducks caught and killed after three years

A notorious feral cat given the name “Nine Lives” because it eluded trappers for three years has been caught and killed in New Zealand, ending its devastating rampage against one of the country’s rare duck populations.

Nine Lives was first spotted on the Purerua peninsula in Northland in 2023. The cat, a large grey tabby, is estimated to have killed dozens of New Zealand’s rarest mainland duck – or 1% of its population – plus a host of kiwi chicks, native geckos and other native wildlife during the three years it was known to be roaming the Purerua peninsula, near the top of the North Island. It was killed at the end of July after the team of Pest Free Purerua successfully lured it with traps and bait.

“We don’t take for granted that we’ve had this success because it had us baffled for so long,” said Andy Mentor, the project manager for Pest Free Purerua, a conservation project.

In November, the government announced feral cats would be added to the country’s world-leading Predator-Free 2050 strategy. Mentor said moving from the suppression of cats to an elimination strategy will be a “real step up” for the peninsula and the team may restart introducing pāteke once more.

Nine Lives will form part of that debate long after its death, with its body set to be taxidermied for use as a tool to educate the community about the devastating impact of feral cats on native species. Some on social media were horrified that Nine Lives had been shot, believing it deserved to live, while others said its capture was “a fantastic result”.