Do you protest too much Beth?
No-one has levelled any guilt at cat owners. Tony just said he hates
cats, as he is entitled to do. I don't like them much either. Just the
cat's though, No-one has mentioned their owners.
EB
On 6/13/08, Beth Mantle <> wrote:
> Ah yes, another opportunity to start "cat-bashing" on the Birding-Aus email
> list.
>
> I am wearied by those who relish an opportunity to make bird-loving
> cat-owners seem like traitors to the Australian Ecology. I think it is
> quite rude, and I for one am completely fed up with it. I find it
> particularly offensive when I am regaled with tales of cat cruelty, in the
> name of "saving the Australian natives", usually after I have confessed to
> owning a cat (like a criminal - I feel it is a "confession").
>
> I could write on for paragraphs as to why (in my humble opinion) cat-bashers
> are generally quite ignorant about the complexity of the feral animal
> problem, and instead use domestic cats as a scape-goat for the atrocious way
> we are managing the Australian landscape.
>
> Instead, read some literature and get informed. Prof, Chris Dickson from
> Sydney University (mentioned in the below article) has himself said
> "Despite the abundance of observations linking cats to extensive losses of
> native species, other evidence suggests that their impact has been minimal".
> Furthermore, domestic "suburban" cats are making very little difference to
> suburban ecology for the simple reason that the animals they are killing are
> dominant species that occur in large numbers (e.g. Crested pigeon,
> Magpie-lark, Noisy miner etc.) (Low, 1999).
>
> I agree that introducing the Ashera hybrid into Australia would be a
> disaster and I hope it is prevented.
>
> However, domestic cats were brought here by Europeans and they are here to
> stay. Instead of attacking cat-owners who clearly have a strong sense of
> ecological responsibility (like Bill, who keeps his cat contained), they
> should be congratulated and held up to the general public as a shining
> example of responsible cat ownership. Then petition your local council to
> make cat neutering, registration and containment compulsory. It is much
> more productive than "the only good cat is a dead cat" email or
> conversation.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Dr Beth Mantle
> Ecologist AND cat-owner (gasp!)
> Canberra
>
>
> On 13/06/2008, at 9:27 AM, Alastair Smith wrote:
>
> >
> > > From the ABC news website:
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > Supercat or superbad? An 11kg ashera, a cross between an African serval,
> an
> > Asian leopard and a domestic cat (Reuters: Mike Blake, file photo)
> >
> > *
> <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/06/2267441.htm>
> Related
> > Story: Push to outlaw hybrid supercats
> >
> > Forty of the nation's leading feral animal researchers are calling for
> > urgent changes to prevent hybrid supercats from being imported into
> > Australia.
> >
> > The Federal Government has been under fire after it was revealed last week
> > that savannah cats - twice as big as domestic species - are being imported
> > by pet shops.
> >
> > Scientists are warning that bandicoots, bettongs, potoroos and possums
> could
> > soon be on the menu for the imported creatures, which were originally bred
> > by crossing domestic cats with the African serval cat.
> >
> > Scientists, environmentalists and bureaucrats attending a National Feral
> Cat
> > Workshop in Darwin this week have angrily condemned the quarantine
> loophole.
> >
> > The University of Sydney's professor of ecology, Chris Dickman, is warning
> > hybrid cats - which can jump up to two metres from a standing start -
> would
> > be uncontrollable in the Australian outback.
> >
> > "It's taken a lot of people who are concerned about the impacts of cats in
> > the Australian environment off guard," he said.
> >
> > "I think there will be some real concern expressed at the meeting that
> here
> > is an example of another species, a predator that is quite capable almost
> > certainly of taking a wide range of native species.
> >
> > "It hasn't come in through the usual quarantine processes, risk
> assessments
> > that would otherwise need to be done."
> >
> > Professor Dickman fears savannah cats would prey on the same Australian
> > wildlife as foxes.
> >
> > He says that while foxes can be poisoned, cats have proved extremely hard
> to
> > control in the outback.
> >
> > "It would be competing with the fox for food in the same size class. We
> can
> > control the fox, we are not very good at controlling cats at the moment,"
> he
> > said.
> >
> > "Cats tend to prefer living food, live food, that they catch themselves.
> And
> > as a consequence, it's much more difficult to put baits out and expect
> feral
> > cats to eat them."
> >
> > The Environment Department says it has been in contact with two people
> > proposing to import savannah cats later this year, and is examining the
> > implications.
> >
> >
> >
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--
Evan Beaver
Lapstone, Blue Mountains, NSW
lat=-33.77, lon=150.64
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