Further to Andrew's comments ..
To eradicate feral cats, we need to know how many are out there
https://theconversation.com/to-eradicate-feral-cats-we-need-to-know-how-many-are-out-there-33014
by Tim Doherty of Edith Cowan University (published 17 Oct 2014)
It's a pretty good non-technical summary of the difficulties and assumptions
used in estimating feral cat numbers in Australia and the quantities of prey
taken. It's also valuable in containing links to the relevant scientific papers
and reports.
Stephen Ambrose
Ryde NSW
-----Original Message-----
From: Birding-Aus On Behalf Of
Andrew Hobbs
Sent: Friday, 6 March 2015 4:33 PM
To: Birding Aus
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Cat control
"Feral cats occur right across the continent in every habitat type including
deserts, forests and grasslands. 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.
"Each feral cat kills between 5-30 animals per day. While they appear to prefer
small mammals, they also eat birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Taking the lower figure in that range (five) – and multiplying it by a
conservative population estimate of 15 million cats – gives a minimum estimate
of 75 million native animals killed daily by feral cats."
Remember that 'animals' is used in its wider zoological sense to include birds,
reptiles etc., not just marsupials. The number of animals killed per day is
well documented from studies of stomach contents.
With the area of Australia being around 8,000,000 square Km. that is 1 to 3
cats per square Km. Given the number of feral cats I have seen in some areas
that number could even be an underestimate.
see
http://www.australianwildlife.org/media/27964/AWC-Wildlife-Matters-Summer-2012-2013.pdf
Cheers
Andrew
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