Thylation’s Felixer trap outsmarts feral cats with AI

Queensland Parks and Wildlife rangers have joined wildlife services in other states trialling a unique trap that utilises Lidar laser light and artificial intelligence to target feral cats and foxes without endangering native animals.

The trial in Wooroonooran National Park marks the first use of Felixer trap from Adelaide company Thylation in a tropical rainforest after being used in other landscapes around the country.

During the six month trial no native species were targeted by the system, though tests in Tasmania by CSIRO have found that Felix has trouble distinguishing Tasmanian devils and ‘possibly common wombats’, suggesting caution needs to be used in which parts of Australia are suitable for deployment.

According to CEO and Founder Dr John Read: “There is no ‘silver bullet’ but control works.”

Manufactured by mechanical, mechatronic and electronic product design company Applidyne, Felixers use rangefinder sensors to distinguish target cats and foxes from non-target wildlife and humans, spraying them with a measured dose of toxic 1080 gel.

Cats are fastidious groomers and quickly lick the poison off their fur, leading to death.

Applidyne is known for its Australian Design Award made in 2012 for the MineLab F3 Compact Mine Detector manufactured by communications and detection company Codan.

In November Thylation launched its latest V3.2 Felix that uses a camera based Artificial Intelligence (AI) system working in tandem with the four Lidars, improving target detection capability.

The solar-powered Felixer can hold 20 sealed cartridges of 1080 and resets automatically after firing.

The system takes photograph of all animals detected including non-targets that are not fired on, and can be programmed to play a variety of audio lures to attract feral cats and foxes.

Feral cats have been implicated in at least 27 mammal extinctions across Australia and threaten more than 100 native species, including mammals, lizards and ground nesting birds, according to Thylation.

Picture: Thylation/Felixer trap