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Australia Has a Serious Cat Problem
Time ^ | Jan. 6, 2017 | Kate Samuelson

Posted on 01/08/2017 2:50:49 PM PST by Trump20162020

Australia has a serious cat problem, with feral cats covering 99.8% of the country according to new research published in the journal Biological Conservation.

The exact number of cats fluctuates from roughly 1.4 million after continent-wide droughts cramp food sources to about 5.6 million after extensive wet periods, which result in plenty of available prey. An additional 700,000 feral cats are estimated to live in other environments, including Australia’s urban areas, rubbish dumps and intensive farms.

Despite this, researchers say that the cats’ impact on Australia’s fauna is still severe, and that reducing this impact is of critical importance. The BBC reports that since 1788, about 11% of the country’s 273 native mammals have gone extinct, with a major factor being introduction of the predatory red fox and feral cat from Europe.

(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: australia; cat; cats; feralcats; invasivespecies
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To: BuffaloJack
Firearms are legal in Australia. Check out the website for my favourite Australian gun shop.

This myth that you can't own guns in Australia just will not die. Yes, we have our share of dumb 'gun control' laws but there are millions of firearms in private hands.

It isn't a solution to the feral cat problem or the rabbit problem, because there are too many of those living in places where there are no significant numbers of people and those who do focus on culling them focus on the places where we have farmland to defend, or in some cases very specific wildlife areas - but not most of the bush and the desert.

81 posted on 01/09/2017 5:50:37 PM PST by naturalman1975 ("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 57 | View Replies]


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