NPS constructs the longest feral cat exclusion fence in the U.S.

The National Park Service, American Bird Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other partners have recently completed construction on the longest cat exclusion fence in the United States. Located on Hawaii’s Mauna Loa – the world’s largest volcano – the five-mile-long fence is designed to keep feral and free-roaming cats from preying on the endangered Hawaiian petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis). The fence, which encloses 600 acres of the seabirds’ nesting area on the volcano, is six feet tall and curves at the top to prevent cats from climbing over.

A 2013 study conducted by the University of Hawaii, the U.S. Geological Survey, and NPS provided the first direct video evidence of feral cats hunting Hawaiian petrels.

Read more at The Washington Post.

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Header Image: A USFWS employee studies a Hawaiian petrel chick. ©USFWS - Pacific Region