In 2023, Arid Recovery has faced the biggest siege of feral cats on the predator-proof fenced reserve’s 26 year history. Successive seasons of good rainfall have been wonderful for the desert ecosystem and threatened species within the reserve, but they have also spurred eruptions of native rodents and rabbits outside the reserve, that have then fuelled massive increases in feral cats. This challenges Arid Recovery by heightening the risk of incursions of cats into the reserve, and by making the animals that disperse out of the fence more vulnerable. This year we were particularly concerned for kowaris, the newest threatened species reintroduced to Arid Recovery in 2022 and still in the vulnerable establishment phase.