Dogs trained to hunt raccoons used for Kangaroo Island feral cats
Bluetick coonhounds are known for their strong hunting instinct. (Supplied)
As dusk breaks on Kangaroo Island, Paul Jennings unleashes the latest weapon in the war against feral cats.
It is a battle as old as time, but this time, the dogs have technology on their side.
Bluetick coonhounds, which are bred in the United States for their tracking skills, are being trained to help eliminate the invasive predators.
"The bloodlines have been developed there for trailing game,"Mr Jennings said.
"So, things like raccoons, bobcats, mountain lions and bears.
"I thought they'd be a perfect breed to put here in Australia to chase our feral cats."
Targeting the last 200 cats
Mr Jennings said he was leading the world's largest feral cat eradication program on an inhabited island.
He said it was a high-tech mission to remove the destructive pests from Dudley Peninsula, where they had spread diseases to livestock and preyed on native wildlife.
"We know that feral cats predate on over 50 native species on Kangaroo Island," Mr Jennings said.
Paul Jennings has refined his handling expertise and his dog's ability to track feral cats. (ABC Landline: Kerry Staight)
"Many of those are threatened and endangered.
"For me the choice is clear, we need to remove cats from this island to allow our wildlife to recover and flourish."
About 1,400 feral cats have been removed from the peninsula in recent years, including 350 culled in a winter blitz last year.
Recent scientific modelling found only 100 to 200 cats remained.
Mr Jennings said his team could eliminate 95 per cent of them with an all-out assault this winter.
Paul Jennings and Chantelle Geissler say every cat caught is measured and its stomach contents analysed. (ABC Landline: Kerry Staight)
For the first time, the effort will include the dogs, which have already caught 100 feral cats during training on Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly's farm.
"I think it's a brilliant concept," Mr Pengilly said.
"Paul's got them trained so that they only chase and find cats."
Dogs' secret weapon
Learning to read the hounds' signals has been key for Mr Jennings, who has deciphered their body language and distinct barks.
"When they know they're on a good scent they make an enormous roar," he said.
The dogs have GPS collars so Mr Jennings can keep track of where they are. (ABC Landline: Kerry Staight)
"It's like they're talking to you about where the cat's been, how long ago the cat was there and then all the dogs come together and start working out the trail."
"The type of bark they use when they're trailing is completely different to when they've got a cat in the tree."
"It's deep down in their belly. It's like here it is, come here … let's get this cat."
While the dogs were a new tool in the arsenal, technology has been the biggest game-changer for those in the field.
A total of 650 cage traps and 250 leg-hold traps have been fitted with sensors, removing much of the guesswork.
Traps with sensor technology are helping keep the numbers at bay. (ABC Landline: Kerry Staight)
"What that tells us is that the trap has been triggered, so in the morning we can check an app, we know exactly where to go and it saves us a huge amount of time," Mr Jennings said.
A network of 260 cameras has also been capturing images of feral cats.
They have helped to create a hotspot map for Brenton Florence, who hunts the most elusive ones at night.
"It's cut my search time in half," Mr Florence said.
"I can spend more time actively trying to remove the animal than actually trying to work out if the animal's around."
Toughest predator yet
Mr Florence has helped eliminate goats and deer from the island and played a major role in the final stages of its pig eradication program.
But he said feral cats were by far the toughest to control.
"Cats are hard … 100 times harder than anything else I've done, purely because of how smart they are," he said.
"Their hearing, their smell, their eyesight … their ability to adapt and survive."
Mr Florence uses animal sounds to lure feral cats. (ABC Landline: Kerry Staight)
Advances in mapping and thermal technology, however, have given him an edge.
"The tools are available now," he said.
"It comes down to money, money to finish it. That's the huge one."
The project has already cost about $7 million in federal, state and private funding.
The eradication team has sought another $6.2 million over the next three years.
Mr Jennings said about a third of that was needed for the winter efforts.
"That's the main goal, suppress that population to a point that it can't recover," Mr Jennings said.
An exclusion fence designed to restrict cat movements is being repaired. (ABC News: Carl Saville)
If successful, the plan was to expand the Dudley Peninsula eradication program and its refined tools across the rest of Kangaroo Island.
"It can be done," Mr Pengilly said.
"Yes, the cats are very smart, [but] we've actually got to be a bit smarter than them."
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