The Kangaroo Island Landscape board has set a target to eradicate feral cats from the island, starting with the 38,000ha Dudley Peninsula. 

It is also already thinking ahead to how it will manage potential mouse invasions when the cats are gone.

The board has built a series of specially-designed barn owl nest boxes to help the native predator replace the work of feral cats by preying on introduced mice and rats.

It has taken inspiration from the use of nest boxes as part of the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board’s Marna Banggara project,

Data shows owls can bring back over 25 mice to one box each night.

The boxes on Kangaroo Island are also equipped with solar-powered, 4G-connected cameras to record the barn owls’ activities and breeding success.

Images from the cameras are connected to an artificial intelligence system that sorts them ready for the team to view each morning.

The boxes also feature a perch on the front of the nest box, which is a perfect stage for fledglings to gather and practice their flying techniques.

One of the specially-designed barn owl nest boxes being installed on Kangaroo Island.