On 6/03/2015 8:54 AM, Michael Hunter wrote:
Thanks Goeff Jones for the link to the AWC. Their work sounds remarkably good.
The most relevant of their activities to Night Parrot conservation is the part
where they have fenced off a large areas which are now cat and fox free, an obvious
short term solution to preserving John Young’s Night Parrot population. New
Zealand has a strong history of fencing off threatened populations of wildlife.
The Western Australian CALM (now DEC) did at one time fence off several peninsulas
on the WA coast, as I recall with an amazing bounceback of local native species after
eliminating cats and foxes. The technology and expertise is patently available to
similarly save the Night Parrot, how can the political will and money be generated?
(State elections are coming up). Maybe the AWC could buy the relevant property and
do their magic.
(One query I have re AWC figures is their claim that 75 million
native animals are killed every night by feral cats, presumably estimated by
extrapolation from a tiny area. Conservation bodies do themselves a great
disservice by crying wolf and otherwise exaggerating. That 75 million every
night sounds very implausible, how, in specific detail, do they justify it?)
How about
"Feral cats occur right across the continent in every habitat type
including deserts, forests and grasslands. Total population estimates
vary from 5 million to 18 million feral cats, with the Federal
Government citing a figure of 18 million cats in its statutory Threat
Abatement Plan.
"Each feral cat kills between 5-30 animals per day. While they appear to
prefer small mammals, they also eat birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Taking the lower figure in that range (five) – and multiplying it by a
conservative population estimate of 15 million cats – gives a minimum
estimate of 75 million
native animals killed daily by feral cats."
Remember that 'animals' is used in its wider zoological sense to include
birds, reptiles etc., not just marsupials. The number of animals killed
per day is well documented from studies of stomach contents.
With the area of Australia being around 8,000,000 square Km. that is 1
to 3 cats per square Km. Given the number of feral cats I have seen in
some areas that number could even be an underestimate.
see
http://www.australianwildlife.org/media/27964/AWC-Wildlife-Matters-Summer-2012-2013.pdf
Cheers
Andrew
Cheers
Michael
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Andrew Hobbs
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