Hundreds of feral cats have been removed from Kangaroo Island since the devastating 2020 fires.
The pests have been putting increased pressure on endangered species since the blaze tore through the western end of the island.
Environmental organisations are using state-of-the-art technology to target feral felines, and have so far removed more than 850 cats.
Kangaroo Island Land for Wildlife fauna ecologist Pat Hodgens said one type of trap they were deploying automatically sprayed a toxin on cats as they walked past.
"[The Felixer trap] differentiates feral cats from native species based on the shape, the size and also the speed and movement of feral cats," he said.
"Then a cat, being an obligate groomer, whenever it gets anything on it, basically has to groom that gel off its coat.
Mr Hodgens said they had received a Landcare-led bushfire recovery grant to improve the trap's technology to include an AI (artificial intelligence) sensor.
"What we're planning to do is to increase the target specificity of the Felixer to make them more specific for feral cats," he said.
"That technology can be used not only here on Kangaroo Island, not only on the western end of the Island but across the island, and across the whole country."
An app to check traps
Mr Hodgens said they had found the specialised trap to be five times more effective than a standard cage trap.
Despite the trap's success, he said it was not a silver bullet and was being used in conjunction with other pest management techniques.
The Landscape Board and the Department of Environment and Water are using a new automated trap alert system.
Using a smartphone app, now 400 traps can be checked remotely using a smartphone app saving time and resources.
"[It] will basically make checking the cage traps a lot more effective," Mr Hodgens said.
"It's a really good example of different groups working together but also using all the new technologies that are available.
Cats stopped by electric fence with floppy top
Another string in their feral cat management bow is an exclusion fence that has been erected around fire-affected land that's known to house endangered species like the Kangaroo Island dunnart and southern brown bandicoot.
The fence is 1.8 metres tall with electric wires and footing to stop animals from digging underneath. It also has a floppy top to stop the felines from getting over the fence if they do manage to climb it.
The structure has been built on local James Doube's property.
He said it was important the feral cat population was brought under control.
"They are the primary vectors of a couple of significant diseases that affect sheep and devalue sheep production across the island," Mr Doube said.
"Removing them [feral cats] will also make a huge difference to the survival of a number of [species] particularly the small mammals and birds."
He said the fence was making a big difference — and he had noticed more animals within the enclosure.
Mr Hodgens said the figures backed up what Mr Doube was seeing anecdotally.
"We found that inside the fence, we were detecting almost double the species diversity within the fence compared to the outside," he said.
