Conservationists have hailed the New Zealand government's decision to rein in feral cats as a "monumental" step towards its mid-century dream of a country free of invasive species.
The Predator Free 2050 program, launched by John Key's government in 2016, takes aim at the millions of rats, stoats and possums that decimate land and kill native birds.
However, it never included a specific strategy to tackle feral cats, which attack and kill native wildlife and spread toxoplasmosis in their faeces which threatens endangered dolphins.
