Feral Cat Hunting Competition Cancelled After Animal Rights Activists Raise Concerns

In this Friday, April 1, 2016 photo, a feral cat hides in a wooded area near a beach parking lot at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, N.Y. The American Bird Conservancy has filed a lawsuit against the New York parks department seeking to have the feral cats removed from Jones Beach because they claim they are a threat to an endangered bird species called the piping plover. AP Photo/Frank Eltman

The addition of a new feral cat category in an annual hunting competition in rural New Zealand has sparked public outrage, prompting organisers to scrap the category.

Organisers of the North Canterbury Hunting Competition expressed their disappointment at the withdrawal, a move they said was made to avoid further backlash.