Request for expressions of Interest - Commercialisation of Curiosity® bait for feral cats

The Department of the Environment and Energy sought expressions of interest by 5 December 2018 from suitably experienced and skilled entities interested manufacturing and selling the Curiosity^® bait for feral cats.

Curiosity^® bait for feral cats

The Curiosity^® bait for feral cats has been a long-term $5.1 million project to develop a humane, broad-scale toxic bait to control feral cats in conservation areas.

The bait

The Curiosity^® bait for feral cats is a small, meat-based, skinless sausage containing a small hard plastic pellet (or hard shell delivery vehicle) encapsulating a humane toxin. The pellet is made of controlled release drug delivery technology designed to dissolve within the stomach of the cat and deliver the toxin. This method of delivery is designed to target the Curiosity^® bait to cats, who are likely to eat both the sausage and the pellet. Testing has shown that most native animals will reject the hard plastic pellet, and are therefore unharmed when eating the bait.

The Curiosity^® bait is designed for broad-scale, aerial delivery in areas of southern and central Australia where native species are likely to be more susceptible to poisoning from conventional-style baits. The label will specify conditions under which baits may be laid.

• More information about Curiosity^®

Licence arrangements for manufacture and sale

The Department is proposing a licensing arrangement for the manufacture and sale of Curiosity^® bait for feral cats to guarantee the long term availability of the bait across Australia. See the Request for Expressions of Interest document below for more information.

The Curiosity^® bait for feral cats was developed as a collaboration between the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy; Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research); Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions; and Scientec Research Pty Ltd. While this request for expressions of interest comes from the Department of the Environment and Energy, full support has been given by all parties for the commercialisation arrangements.

Intellectual property

The intellectual property for the Curiosity^® bait for feral cats is protected through patents for the background technology on the hard shell delivery vehicles, the bait attractant composition and the combination within the Curiosity^® bait product. There are agreements between the Commonwealth, the R&D company and the Government of Western Australia under which the parties have agreed to collaborate in commercialising the Curiosity^® bait for feral cats.

Additional information

An expired patent from Scientec Research may provide information on the formation of Hard Shell Delivery Vehicles incorporated into the Curiosity Bait for feral cats. The expired patent is Australian Patent 744606.

A copy of the safety data sheet for Curiosity PAPP-HSDV is provided below.

Safety data sheet for Curiosity PAPP-HSDV (PDF - 99.92 KB)
Safety data sheet for Curiosity PAPP-HSDV (DOCX - 189.22 KB)

The Department does not have information about the potential bait purchase or use by any entity. State and territory governments have shown interest in the Curiosity bait for feral cats through conversations at Threatened Species Commissioner’s Feral Cat Taskforce meetings and requests for information.

Call for expression of interest