Editor's note: Additional information has been added to this article to clarify data around the number of native animals killed by feral cats in Australia.

In a world first, the West Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife has had a bait registered to help eliminate feral cats.

There is some dispute about just how many native animals are killed every night across the nation.

The Federal Government's own figures put the feral cat population at between 15 and 23 million. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy said that if each feral cat killed between five and 30 animals a day, a minimum of 75 million native animals would be killed daily.

For the last decade, the WA Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) has been working on a 1080-based bait called 'Eradicat'.

It has been successfully trialled in selected national parks as part of the Western Shield program.

The bait has now received registration from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine's Authority, meaning it will be rolled out state wide.

WA Minister for Environment Albert Jacob said the bait will put a big dent in feral cat populations. Listen Duration: 3 minutes 58 seconds 3 m 58 s Listen Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. WA Minister for Environment Albert Jacob talks about Eradicat ( Tara De Landgrafft ) Download 1.8 MB

"It will be a significant tool in controlling that feral population, but also ensuring that some of our populations of native fauna that are under significant stress, can again thrive," he said.

Mr Jacob has high hopes for the future success of the bait, which will be used in conjunction with other department baiting programs.

"It builds on a 1080 based poison, much like Western Shield, which targeted foxes from the mid 90s and saw a drastic reduction in fox population and more than 50 species started to recover."

DPaW staff will have access to Eradicat baits right across the state from today, but several national parks have been trialling the bait for years.

Fitzgerald River National Park on WA's south east coast is park that has been involved in trials. Listen Duration: 16 minutes 36 seconds 16 m Listen Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Trapping feral cats in the Fitzgerald River national park with the Department of Parks and Wildlife ( Tara De Landgrafft ) Download 7.6 MB

Last week a team from DPaW went out to trap feral cats, GPS collar and then release them.

It is all part of an attempt to find out where the cats live, which will make the baiting program in autumn more effective.

Regional ecologist Sarah Comer said it was tough to let the cats go after catching and collaring them, but it was for the greater good of research.

"Yeah, that's one of the extraordinarily challenging parts of this project and we still struggle with it, even four years into the program, it is really hard letting them go but there will be a point at which we shift from a research phase into an operational phase," she said.

"We're hoping that all this information eventually will help us pull together a more strategic approach to baiting."

Trapping and baiting of cats in the Fitzgerald River National Park began six years ago after surveys of native animals uncovered a large decline in ground parrot numbers.

Ms Comer said now that their coordinated program was underway, a dent was being made in the feral cat population and some species were starting to return.

"We're still very optimistic that we are going to find ground parrots somewhere here in this huge park, there may still be a small population and if we can find them and be even more targeted with the predator work, they'll hopefully start to recover in a significant way," she said.

"But all the signs we are seeing are extraordinarily exciting."

Eradicat inventor Dr Dave Algar said it was good to see the number of feral cats decline and native animals increase, as a result of their trapping and baiting program.

"It's brilliant news," he said.

"I mean one of the things feral cats will do is compete with these guys for their food resource so feral cats not only predate them, they also displace them as well.

"So it's brilliant news, more native cats in an area where feral cats used to be."

Mr Algar said he was very proud of the program's success and the part he has played in it.

"I've been working on the Eradicat bait, which is the feral cat bait now, for some time and fortunately we have also been able to register it.

"So all is looking well for feral cat control, especially in Western Australia."