A ban on cats is a mechanism to reduce the problem. It could hardly be
expected to eliminate the problem. Yes they may wander from nearby suburbs,
they may also be breeding wild. So that you have seen so few, could
reasonably suggest that the ban is effective, or at least a lot better than
to not have it.
Cats are not the only predators of small birds and sure when populations get
low that sort of pressure could be a cause of local extinctions. Habitat
loss and fragmentation that prevents having sufficient space for sustainable
populations of things like Hooded Robins is likely to be a bigger threat
than cats.
It is worth thinking about a situation where there is little or no cat
control. Last August / September I visited Manila and surrounds, I went to
several zoos and botanic gardens and similar and just around the town. So
many cats, even clearly breeding there. Also dogs. There are signing warning
people not to interact with either dogs or cats. The zoos had more than
enough eagles, crocodiles, etc for which catching cats would be a suitable
food source for them. I asked some people about all the cats. It got a bit
of a non response, the best answer I got was problems of animal welfare
stops them taking control measures. There is not a lot of small ground
living birds there..........
Philip
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill & Raelene
Sent: Sunday, 12 October 2014 8:52 AM
To:
Subject: counting cats
In the two years I have been in Bonner, the occasional cat has been
seen. This and Forde should be cat free. If cats wander in from Amaroo,
Gungahlin, Franklin etc, is that ban effective? Were cats responsible
for some of the Hooded Robin extinctions in the ACT? Should we be
recording sightings? These wetlands being created could be an open
invitation to a feast.
Bill Graham
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