In my view, the Government, lobbied very hard by wildlife and environmental
bodies (including Birdlife Australia) should be focusing on major pest control
(namely feral cats) in the crucial habitat areas of endangered fauna.
Manual control through shooting and trapping needs to happen in the short term
(pretty sure I saw that a per cat bounty was suggested recently - expensive way
to do it perhaps but what about $50 per feral cat?).
Let's not forget the WA governments ill fated "Shark-kill" which was about
$25,000 per shark. All in the name of votes and tourist dollars.
Also, weapons and trapping equipment should be made freely available to key
conservation personnel (e.g. John Young), if they were willing to use a firearm
of course.
Rangers, who spend their lives in national parks and reserves should all carry
firearms.
It's fine for everyone including the government (namely Greg Hunt - copied on
this email) to continue to talk about the feral cat problem.
Nothing ever really gets done.
There might be an eradication "trial" or two. But that's about it.
When we are down to only a few birds (like the Western Ground Parrot in
Fitzgerald National Park), the government tends to "act" in some way.
It's almost too late for many mammals, reptiles and birds.
Most of the "trials" or "cat trap inventions" are not paid for by the
Government.
Longer term a virus may be the answer but report I have read indicate this is
15 years away.
I also think there should be some kind if national forum on feral cats (there
probably is one, I just for know it).
Also, we have government bodies for food safety, tourism, etc.. It's time for a
government body on Feral Cat management.
I've emailed Greg Hunt to get some insight into the budget he has for Feral Cat
management. I hope he proves some of my assumptions in this email are wrong.
I praise the likes of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) for their
measures such as building fences to keep out feral animals.
In closing, just imagine what it was like walking through the Australian bush
227 years ago?
Cheers,
Charles Hunter
> On 19 Feb 2015, at 11:37 am, Carl Clifford <> wrote:
>
> Hunting would be only one of a number of control measure that would have to
> be used. A single pest control method is never completely successful. Also
> any feral cat control program can never completely eradicate the species in
> a land mass the size of Australia. Somewhere the size of Macquarie Island,
> yes, Australia no.
>
> I don't think that there there will be any problem with cat levels becoming
> that unsustainable, what with the number of new individuals added to the
> breeding stock each day by the actions of misguided people.
>
> Carl Clifford
>
>
>> On 19 Feb 2015, at 12:52 am, Peter Shute <> wrote:
>>
>> If that poisoning method is more selective then great. I don't know if
>> exporting is a good idea though. Apart from the outcry, any hunting that
>> generates profit is likely to either fizzle out when density gets low, or
>> encourage people to breed more of them instead of hunting.
>>
>> Peter Shute
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>>> On 18 Feb 2015, at 10:07 pm, Charles <> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Carl,
>>>
>>> True in some regards. A friend of mine from Myanmar likes to eat cat (and
>>> can't stand eating lamb - hates the smell).
>>>
>>> Cats are very hard to catch.
>>>
>>> They are every where.
>>>
>>> I saw a very large black feral cat last August (2014) near the famed
>>> Golden-shouldered parrot site near Musgrave Roadhouse.
>>>
>>> As you know the GSP is primarily a ground feeder.
>>>
>>> I've seen feral cats at most of my favourite bird watching sites across
>>> Australia (from Nightcap NP to Cape York to Fitzgerald River NP).
>>>
>>> I spoke with a guy from Northern Queensland last week who said he uses them
>>> for bait in crab nets. They are excellent bait he said.
>>>
>>> This approach to cull them is the best I've seen for a while, see link
>>> below:
>>>
>>> http://m.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/dying-to-be-clean-the-new-technique-for-controlling-feral-cats-20141107-11iehz.html
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Charles Hunter
>>> Bronte, Sydney
>>>
>>>> On 18 Feb 2015, at 6:29 pm, Carl Clifford <> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Cat meat is quite popular in parts of Asia and there is a good market for
>>>> cat fur in China and Korea. Perhaps there is a chance for Australian
>>>> entrepreneurs to not only take advantage of these markets and help the
>>>> control. After all, just shooting the cats and leaving the carcasses where
>>>> they fall only gives other cats a free meal.
>>>>
>>>> Just a thought.
>>>>
>>>> Carl Clifford
>>>>
>>>>
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