I understand the need, I agree with the need.. but a kid's competition?

 New Zealand has some of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. Areas shut off from competitors for so long that birds and other animals have adapted to unique environments. Like the Kiwi, a small bird that cannot fly but runs along the forest floor.

Well, escaped cats that are living in the wild find they are great predators and have no predators themselves. So they breed and live happily, destroying ecosystems and killing endangered animals. So New Zealand has a wild cat hunt with prizes. Sounds terrible, but other options are equally terrible. The other option would be to capture, sterilize and release cats. But a) catching feral cats is really hard and b) releasing them back into the wild does nothing to help save species now.

So, New Zealand sponsors a wild cat kill competition yearly. This year they added a children's category to raise money for a local school. Locals (and pet owners) were not amused.

I also love that the cat in the picture looks like a giant mutant puss-puss that will mess-you-up if you cross it.