Australia: Government Takes Aim at Feral Cats in Bid to Save Native Wildlife

• Feral cats kill 2 billion+ Australian animals yearly.
• They’ve driven two-thirds of native mammal species extinct.
• Australia aims to eradicate feral cats for species protection.

Australia’s Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, has announced a comprehensive plan to combat feral cats and safeguard the country’s native wildlife from extinction.

Feral cats are responsible for killing over 2 billion reptiles, birds, and mammals in Australia annually, according to research from the Australian National University (ANU) in 2019.

Plibersek emphasized that feral cats have played a significant role in the extinction of two-thirds of Australian mammal species in the last two centuries and pose a threat to more than 200 endangered species. She highlighted the contrast between beloved domestic cats and feral cats, describing the latter as ruthless predators that kill around 6 million animals every night in Australia.

The Minister expressed a strong desire to make Australia free of feral cats to protect threatened species effectively. The action plan includes measures such as legislation, strategic planning, and research to prevent the spread of feral cats to islands, eliminate them from critical areas, and expand cat-free enclosed sanctuaries.

The Australian government states that feral cats endanger the survival of over 100 native species, including ground-dwelling birds and small to medium-sized mammals. They are a significant factor in the decline of endangered animals like bilbies, bandicoots, bettongs, and numbats. Furthermore, feral cats can carry infectious diseases that can be transmitted to native wildlife, domestic animals, and humans. Although they are the same species as domestic cats, they live and reproduce in the wild, relying on hunting and scavenging for survival.

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