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Threatened species commissioner appointed to helpsave native wildlife |

To: Kim Sterelny <>
Subject: Threatened species commissioner appointed to helpsave native wildlife | Environment | theguardian.com
From: Carl Clifford <>
Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2014 17:15:32 +1000
Kim, perhaps you should swap your cat for something like a Jack Russell 
terrier. My daughter moved into an old inner city house with a lot of rodents 
about 18 months ago. Twelve months ago, she inherited a young Jack Russell. She 
now has no rodent problem. Admittedly she does have a slight problem with small 
craters in the back yard, caused by a rather over-enthusiastic ratter, but it 
is a small price to pay for a fairly environmentally safe rodent control 
measure.

Carl Clifford

> On 2 Jul 2014, at 16:57, Kim Sterelny <> wrote:
> 
> Folks
> 
> I have talked to quite a few ecologists about this at ANU, and the message I 
> hear is much more mixed, suggesting that cat impact varies a lot from place 
> to place, because cats do not only eat native animals, they eat a lot of 
> rats, mice and rabbits. That said, there is a lot of variation in opinion. 
> 
> It is a while since I reread any of the work in WA on numbat reintroduction 
> but at one stage their experimental manipulations on small mammal populations 
> showed a large impact from fox control, but much less from cat control. 
> Anyone kept up to date on this?
> 
> I'll come clean on this: I do have a domestic cat in inner Canberra where we 
> rent, which takes a lot of rats (over 30 in one month) and no birds; I also 
> have a bush property, and I would never keep a cat there (not until too old 
> to hunt, anyway)
> 
> kim
> 
> 
> 
> Kim Sterelny
> Philosophy Program
> RSSS, ANU 
> 
> e-mail
>  
> 
> ANU Contact Information 
> Philosophy Program
> Research School of the Social Sciences
> Australian National University
> 0200 Canberra, ACT, Australia
> 
> phone
> 
> 61- (0)2 6125-2886; messages:  Philosophy Program 
> 
> 61-(0)2 -6125 2341, 
> fax 61-(0)2 - 6125 3294 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> On 02/07/2014, at 4:43 PM, Greg and Val Clancy wrote:
>> 
>> I am with you Denise.  There are a few responsible cat owners who keep their 
>> pets in doors or in a run in the yard but the majority don't.  With the 
>> millions of domestic cats in Australia the toll on wildlife must be great. 
>> People are usually aware of the impact of feral cats on native wildlife but 
>> don't realise that their moggy is also a major threat.  Any cat not in the 
>> owners house or cat run should be declared 'feral' and be eliminated.  Years 
>> ago the NSW government produced a green paper on companion animals which 
>> called for serious and much needed controls on domestic pets, including 
>> cats.  The pet food industry lobbied the government and the end result was a 
>> lame act, particularly with respect to cats.  My aging mother-in-law, who 
>> had the early stages of dementia at the time, was being disturbed at night 
>> by a neighbour's cat.  The Council ranger said that they could only act 
>> after it was established that the cat was a nuisance and that my 
>> mother-in-law would need to keep a diary on the movements of the cat.  I 
>> don't blame the ranger as he has to work within the legislation but the 
>> control of cats is like the human over-population issue, the elephant in the 
>> room.
>> 
>> 
>> Regards
>> 
>> 
>> Greg
>> 
>> 
>> Dr Greg. P. Clancy
>> Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide
>> | PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460
>> | 02 6649 3153  | 0429 601 960
>> http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com
>> http://gregswildliferamblings.blogspot.com.au/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message----- From: Denise Goodfellow
>> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 4:02 PM
>> To: Carl Clifford
>> Cc: Birding Aus
>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Threatened species commissioner appointed to 
>> helpsave native wildlife | Environment | theguardian.com
>> 
>> I challenge prominent  Australians to stick their necks out and call for 
>> control of all cats.
>> 
>> Denise Lawungkurr  Goodfellow
>> PO Box 71
>> Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 2 Jul 2014, at 2:56 pm, Carl Clifford <> wrote:
>> 
>>> Nice to see that the Government is doing something about feral cat control. 
>>> What the results will be, who knows. An awful lot of bait will have to be 
>>> laid for effective control.
>>> http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/02/threatened-species-commissioner-to-combat-decline-of-native-wildlife
>>> Carl Clifford
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Birding-Aus mailing list
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