A wildlife project aimed at capturing feral cats in Tauranga City has now moved into the Pillans Point area, with residents on Myres St helping to capture unowned felines.

The Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Wildlife project in the suburb began on Wednesday with three cats already caught.

ARRC manager Sue Mackey with a feral cat, seen here hiding in a cage, from Myres street, Pillans Point.

ARRC founder Dr Liza Schneider says one of the cats has been released as it was found to be tame, while the two others remain at the centre.

'Because the residents have been so proactive and letting us know which cats are owned and which aren't owned, it makes it really easy to know which ones are tame and can be released back into the community,” says Liza. 'One cat was tame and released and the other one we got in was a female, which was pregnant. She was relatively tame, so we have de-sexed her and she will be released back into the area where she will be looked after by one of the residents.”

Liza says the third cat was captured this morning.

'The residents said it was pretty feral but we found it to be tame enough that it could be rehomed, so we have to keep it for seven days and monitor it closely.

'If it does show signs of being a pet then we either try to find where it came from or rehome it.”

Identifying if a cat is owned or not is the difficulty of the project. Liza says the only way to really tell is if the owner comes forward or if they start to act feral.

The cats are de-sexed and rehomed, or if they are too feral to be rehomed Liza says they are humanely euthanised.

'The cats that we are unsure are owned or not, we will be posting photos of them on our Facebook page, so that if there is anyone in the surrounding areas who have lost a cat, then they know where to look.

'The residents involved in the project have been really proactive and trying to create awareness in the area.

'But if anyone has any problems then they just need to contact ARRC.”

ARRC anticipates 20 cats will need to be removed from the Pillans Point area and it may take two to eight weeks.

The project has removed 900 unowned (stray and feral) cats from Tauranga's streets since its inception two years ago. It has the support of all the local councils, DOC and the National SPCA.