Louise Greenaway has written an interesting, and rather disturbing, article on the impact of domestic cats on wildlife. She has provided a helpful update on current Australian laws on cat keeping, which vary considerably between States. Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory are all trying new things. The article is at the Australian Landcare Magazine (follow the prompt at "protecting fauna").
The article also highlights the lack of decent data on domestic cat impacts. I see all sorts of figures quoted, and there are relatively few studies. There are some calls in Australia for "trap, neuter, release" (TNR) programs (I don't know of any serious programs underway here) but I think they would be a waste of money and very unlikely to succeed. The impact of cats in an environment that didn't have them until a century or two ago is much naturally much greater than in environments where cats (or similar) predators have been for much longer. TNR Reality Check gives good information.
Posted by Tony Peacock, founder of 'Feral Thoughts'
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