Does anyone want hybrids here?

In several hours of radio interviews I've done in the past week, not one single caller has expressed a view favourable to Savannah cats, or hybrids in general. Overwhelmingly, the blog response online has been shock that fashion wild-domestic crosses can be imported to Australia.

Australians know that half the mammals lost to the world in the last 200 years have come from this country. They know we've made some awful mistakes. The RSPCA has come out reiterating its opposition to hybrid animal imports. If the UK, the states of Georgia and Hawaii and the City of New York can ban these hybrids, so can we. We have much more to lose.

An online herpetology discussion group spontaneously started a petition that has over 1000 signatures in a little over a day.

My job is really only the science and awareness-raising. But this generation of Australians has normally only been able to look back with regret at dumb decisions to bring animals in. We don't have the excuse of ignorance, so we should grab the opportunity to stop hybrid dogs and cats entering Australia.

Online petition - Review the importation and breeding of Savannah cats in Australia