Cats in Australia

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A taxidermy feral cat with a Major Mitchell's cockatoo at the Central Australian Museum Feral cat with galah.jpg
A taxidermy feral cat with a Major Mitchell's cockatoo at the Central Australian Museum

Feral cats are an invasive species in Australia. Because they are not native to Australia and were only introduced by European colonists as pets in the early 1800s, native Australian animals did not co-evolve with them. [1] As of 2016, some 3.8 million domestic cats and up to 6.3 million feral cats continue to live in Australia. [2] [3] [ needs update ]

Contents

The Invasive Species Council has estimated that each year domestic and feral cats in Australia kill 1,067 million mammals, 399 million birds, 609 million reptiles, 93 million frogs, and 1.8 billion invertebrates. [4] As one of the most ecologically damaging and the most costly invasive species in Australia, predation by both domestic and feral cats has played a role in the extinction of many of Australia's indigenous animals. For instance, cats are found to have significantly contributed to the extinction of at least 22 endemic Australian mammals since the arrival of Europeans. [5]

For biosecurity reasons, any cats that are imported into Australia must meet conditions set by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Historical context

Historical records date the introduction of cats by the first settlers in 1788 and that cats first became feral around Sydney by 1820. [6] In the early 1900s concern was expressed at the pervasiveness of the cat problem. [7]

Domesticated cats

Many pet cat owners in Australia let their cats outside at night. Cat at night1.jpg
Many pet cat owners in Australia let their cats outside at night.

Each pet cat in Australia kills an estimated 110 native animals each year; totalling up to about 80 million native birds, 67 million native mammals and 83 million native reptiles being killed by them annually. [8]

Almost 30% of Australian households keep at least one domesticated cat. [9] [2] Domesticated cats must be microchipped in every state of Australia except Tasmania. [10] All pet cats past six months of age must be desexed in the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. [11]

Feral cats

Feral cats are wild-born descendants of domesticated cats. Feral Cat (5573630708).jpg
Feral cats are wild-born descendants of domesticated cats.

Ecological damage

Feral cats are a major invasive species and have been linked to the decline and extinction of various native animals in Australia. They have been shown to cause a significant impact on ground-nesting birds and small native mammals. [12] A study in the 2010s estimated that each feral cat kills 740 wild animals per year. [13] Feral cats have also hampered attempts to reintroduce threatened species back into areas where they have become extinct, as the cats quickly kill the newly released animals. [14] Environmentalists conclude that feral cats have been an ecological disaster in Australia, inhabiting almost all of its ecosystems, and being implicated in the extinction of several marsupial and placental mammal species. [15] [16]

A field experiment conducted in Heirisson Prong (Western Australia) compared small mammal populations in areas cleared of both foxes and cats, of foxes only, and a control plot. Researchers found the first solid evidence that predation by feral cats can cause a decline in native mammals. It also indicates that cat predation is especially severe when fox numbers have been reduced. [17] Cats may play a role in Australia's altered ecosystems; with foxes they may be controlling introduced rabbits, particularly in arid areas, which themselves cause ecological damage. Cats are believed to have been a factor in the extinction of the only mainland bird species to be lost since European settlement, the paradise parrot. [18] Cats in Australia have no natural predators except dingoes and wedge-tailed eagles, and as a result, they are apex predators where neither the dingo nor the eagle exists. [19] Also, dingos do not appear to affect the activity of cats. [20]

Claimed benefits

Some researchers argue that feral cats may suppress and control the number of rats and rabbits, and cat eradication may damage native species indirectly. [21] [22]

Economic impacts

Cats are the costliest invasive species in Australia. [23] The cost of invasive cats to the national economy is estimated to be nearly A$19 billion over the 60 years up to 2021, with most of the cost spent on population control. This cost significantly outstrips the next most costly invasive species, with rabbits in Australia coming in at nearly A$2 billion. [24]

Control

Pintupi, Nyirripi and other Western Desert peoples in Western Australia and Northern Territory have been hunting cats to use as a food source and for bush medicine for decades, but in 2015 they were also participating in a program with ecologists to help monitor and reduce cat predation on threatened species. [25]

Some varmint hunters of feral cats in Australia, such as Barry Green, face backlash and even death threats for the culling of the invasive species. [26] [27]

Since 2016, a program on Kangaroo Island aims to fully eradicate the island's feral cat population, estimated at between 3000 and 5000, by 2030. [28] [29] The 2019–2020 bushfires have complicated the eradication efforts, as the gradual regrowth of the burnt brush creates favourable conditions for cat breeding and makes them more difficult to hunt. [30] By the end of 2021, at least 850 cats had been removed from the burnt area at the western end of the island using grooming traps with state-of-the-art technology [31] and cameras. In addition, an exclusion fence had been built on private property around some of the burnt land, helping to protect the populations of Kangaroo Island dunnart and southern brown bandicoot. [32]

Phantom cats

The numerous sightings of phantom cats in Australia include the Gippsland phantom cat and the Blue Mountains panther. [33]

Australian folklore holds that some feral cats have grown so large as to cause inexperienced observers to claim sightings of cougars in Western Australia. While this rarely occurs in reality, large specimens are occasionally found: in 2005, a feline was measured to be 176 cm (69 in) from the tip of its nose to the tip of its tail in the Gippsland area of Victoria. [34] Subsequent DNA tests showed it to be a feral cat. [35]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dingo</span> Canid species native to Australia

The dingo is an ancient (basal) lineage of dog found in Australia. Its taxonomic classification is debated as indicated by the variety of scientific names presently applied in different publications. It is variously considered a form of domestic dog not warranting recognition as a subspecies, a subspecies of dog or wolf, or a full species in its own right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feral</span> Wild-living but normally domestic animal or plant that has returned to the wild.

A feral animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some cases, contributed to extinction of indigenous species. The removal of feral species is a major focus of island restoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridled nail-tail wallaby</span> Species of marsupial

The bridled nail-tail wallaby, also known as the bridled nail-tailed wallaby, bridled nailtail wallaby, bridled wallaby, merrin, and flashjack, is a vulnerable species of macropod. It is a small wallaby found in three isolated areas in Queensland, Australia, and whose population is declining. In early 2019 the total population of the species was estimated to be fewer than 500 mature individuals in the wild and 2285 in captivity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feral cat</span> Unowned or untamed domestic cat in the outdoors

A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat that lives outdoors and avoids human contact; it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens of generations and become an aggressive local apex predator in urban, savannah and bushland environments. Some feral cats may become more comfortable with people who regularly feed them, but even with long-term attempts at socialization, they usually remain aloof and are most active after dusk. Of the 700 million cats in the world, an estimated 480 million are feral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasive species in Australia</span>

Invasive species in Australia are a serious threat to the native biodiversity, and an ongoing cost to Australian agriculture. Numerous species arrived with European maritime exploration and colonisation of Australia and steadily since then. There is much ongoing debate about the potential benefits and detriments of introduced species; some experts believe that certain species, particularly megafauna such as deer, equids, bovids, and camels, may be more beneficial to Australia's ecosystems than they are detrimental, acting as replacements for extinct Australian megafauna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern barred bandicoot</span> Species of mammal

The eastern barred bandicoot is a nocturnal, rabbit-sized marsupial endemic to southeastern Australia, being native to the island of Tasmania and mainland Victoria. It is one of three surviving bandicoot species in the genus Perameles. It is distinguishable from its partially-sympatric congener – the long-nosed bandicoot – via three or four dark horizontal bars found on its rump. In Tasmania, it is relatively abundant. The mainland population in Victoria is struggling and is subject to ongoing conservation endeavors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woylie</span> Species of marsupial

The woylie or brush-tailed bettong is a small, critically endangered mammal native to forests and shrubland of Australia. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it moves by hopping and is active at night, digging for fungi to eat. It is also a marsupial and carries its young in a pouch. Once widespread, the woylie mostly died out from habitat loss and introduced predators such as foxes. It is currently restricted to two small areas in Western Australia. There were two subspecies: B. p. ogilbyi in the west, and the now-extinct B. p. penicillata in the southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Shield</span> Nature conservation program

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western barred bandicoot</span> Species of marsupial

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous hare-wallaby</span> Species of marsupial

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The Forrest's mouse, or desert short-tailed mouse, is a small species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is a widespread but sparsely distributed species found across arid and semi-arid inland Australia, commonly found in tussock grassland, chenopod shrubland, and mulga or savannah woodlands.

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The greater stick-nest rat, also known as the housebuilding rat and wopilkara, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. They are about the size of a small rabbit and construct large nests of interwoven sticks. Once widespread across southern Australia, the population was reduced after European colonisation to a remnant outpost on South Australia's Franklin Islands. The species has since been reintroduced to a series of protected and monitored areas, with varying levels of success.

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Red foxes pose a serious conservation problem in Australia. 2012 estimates indicate that there are more than 7.2 million red foxes, with a range extending throughout most of the continental mainland. The species became established in Australia through successive introductions, by settlers, beginning around the 1830s. Due to its rapid spread and ecological impact, it has been classified as one of the most damaging invasive species in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Introduced mammals on seabird breeding islands</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cat predation on wildlife</span> Interspecies animal behavior

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Barry Green also known by his nickname "Cat Man", is an Australian feral cat trapper on Kangaroo Island and self-described conservationist of native Australian wildlife, which is threatened by feral cats both directly through predation and indirectly through transmission of diseases including sarcocystis and toxoplasmosis, which also affect livestock.

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