The researcher's comments come as a Dunedin group which aims to have the Otago Peninsula pest-free by 2050 hailed the Government target as a great "line in the sand'', ambitious, but achievable if enough effort was put in.
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Associate Prof Yolanda van Heezik, who teaches a postgraduate diploma in wildlife management, said it was "really great'' the Government was getting behind pest control.
"The idea that they are going to match [private] funding with $1 per $2 given is excellent.''
She did, however, had some reservations. about whether the goal could be met.
"The goal does seem to depend on there being a fairly major research breakthrough.''
There had been major improvements in trap technology and more would come, but there were large parts of New Zealand where it was not logistically feasible to put traps, for instance in isolated parts of Fiordland.
Progress would probably need to be made when it came to genetic interventions.
Another caveat was that the aim was selective.
"As long as people are able to have pet cats and as long as they are abandoning cats, there is going to be [feral cats], and that's not even considering all of the wildlife that are killed by people's pet cats.''
However, a change in the culture of cat ownership over the next 35 years could make it possible to have pet cats as well as a predator-free country. This change would involve cats becoming largely indoor pets.
In previous generations, dogs were allowed to roam free, but this was no longer acceptable.
Otago Peninsula Biodiversity Group chairman Brendon Cross said the target was an "incredibly ambitious'' target which would be difficult to achieve, but possible if enough effort was put in. The rate at which pest control technology was improving gave him hope it was achievable.
"Possibly the technology that we are going to use to achieve these goals hasn't been invented yet,'' Mr Cross said.
There would be a marked difference in the number of native birds in Dunedin if the aim was met. The group had killed about 10,000 possums in Otago Peninsula since 2011 and it had already made a difference to birdlife.
