Please see below. This email was forwarded yesterday, but under the wrong
subject line.
Peter Shute
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Hunter
Sent: Thursday, 10 July 2014 2:11 PM
To: Greg and Val Clancy; Julian Bielewicz; Ross Macfarlane;
Subject: FW: Cats
Hi all,
I just wanted to add a few comments / ask a few questions on this interesting
topic.
Apologies if I have missed some previous emails that have shared the same or
similar information (or ideas).
Statistics and facts. From the emails I have read I have not seen many
statistics (or assumptions or facts!) so I will refer to the Australian
Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) magazine "Wildlife matters" Summer 2012/13 edition.
On the cover the magazine has a photo of an angry feral cat with the copy
"Feral Cats: killing 75 million native animals every night".
The article is also referred to in this AG article:
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2013/03/natural-born-killers-the-problem-with-cats
The following extracts (key points) are taken from the magazine copy:
1. "Feral cats occur right across the continent in every habitat type including
deserts, forests and grasslands"
2. "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.
3. "Each feral cat kills between 5-30 animals per day"
4. "Scotia (8,000 ha) contains the largest cat-free area on the mainland"
5. "Cats are difficult to locate and extremely wary, which makes trapping and
shooting resource-intensive and impractical".
6. "The removal of cats from one area is offset by immigration from adjacent
areas"
7. "Baiting is also currently limited in effectiveness as cats do not readily
take bait as they are live prey specialists"
(Side note: the ABS indicates there are between 2.5M and 3.0M domestic cats in
Australia).
The article goes onto discuss strategies such as ground cover management to
disrupt cats hunting efficiency, using dingoes, establishing cat-free areas and
further research.
My view is that education could also greatly assist in the management and
control of domestic and feral cats in Australia.
For example, mass marketing campaigns that explain the impact of feral cats on
our national fauna. Communicate key statistics and educate cat owners and the
general public about the importance of (for example) keeping your cat locked up
at night and putting a bell on the cat (and changing it regularly).
In many Australian localities, dogs are not allowed to roam the streets during
the day or night. Why are cats allowed? There should also be cat curfews at
night.
We should be doing something as Australia has one of the world's worst records
for mammal (and bird) extinctions (which is set to continue).
(Side note: Will the Night Parrot hang on? I actually wonder if John Young saw
any feral cats at the Night Parrot site during the 17,000 hours he spent there!
I might ask him at the presentation in Sydney on the 23rd July....).
Finally, let us not forget that feral cats a major problems in countries all
over the world including Great Britain (where they apparently have 7 million
domestic cats and 1 million feral cats).
Cheers,
Charles Hunter
Bronte, Sydney
On Thursday, 10 July 2014 1:13 PM, Greg and Val Clancy <>
wrote:
Hi Julian,
You make a number of good points in your rather emotional defence of you being
a cat lover. The great frustration that people suffer when they see domestic
cats roaming free and killing a whole range of native fauna, not just birds,
without any real restrictions by government, causes people to get, like you,
emotional and suggest rather radical, and sometimes impractical actions. It is
not impractical, or unreasonable, though to insist on preventing the large
number of domestic cats that are out killing wildlife during the day and night
to be controlled. I personally would prefer no domestic cats in Australia but
realise that this is not practical.
I also accept that some people like cats, although I find little to like in
them, unlike the larger members of the family such as Tigers, Leopards, Ocelots
etc. which I find interesting and beautiful. You are right that it is not the
cat's fault that it is a cat and that it has been taken all over the world by
humans to wreak havoc on the wildlife of many lands. So it is up to humans, in
particular cat owners, to be responsible. I wouldn't doubt that you would be a
responsible cat owner but the evidence of roaming cats suggests that you are in
the minority. Domestic cats should be confined to indoors or to a cat run when
outdoors. It is not too much to ask of caring animal lovers to separate the
unnatural predator from the unsuspecting prey.
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: Julian Bielewicz
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2014 8:48 AM
To: Ross Macfarlane ;
Subject: FW: Cats
Unlike Ross, I am unashamedly a cat lover; nay, I consider myself an animal
lover per se and make no exceptions.
I have, over the years, travelled to many corners around the globe and on each
occasion have come across top notch birders who also have a pet cat [or two].
That tally includes top birders here in Australia.
The current anti-cat thread is an old chestnut that keeps raising its often
nonsensical head on an almost regular basis and appears to become more radical
with each reincarnation: de-sex ALL male cats; round them up and send them back
to England; shoot all feral cats; shoot, or in some other way, do away with ALL
domestic cats; etc., etc., ad nauseum, ad bloody nauseum.
_______________________________________________
Birding-Aus mailing list
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
_______________________________________________
Birding-Aus mailing list
To change settings or unsubscribe visit:
http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org
|
