FW: FW: Cats

Please see below. This email was forwarded yesterday, but under the wrong subject line. Peter Shute —–Original Message—– From: Charles Hunter [mailto:ccgfh@yahoo.com.au] Sent: Thursday, 10 July 2014 2:11 PM To: Greg and Val Clancy; Julian Bielewicz; Ross Macfarlane; birding-aus@birding-aus.org Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] FW: Cats Hi all, I just wanted to add a few comments / ask a few questions on this interesting topic. Apologies if I have missed some previous emails that have shared the same or similar information (or ideas). Statistics and facts. From the emails I have read I have not seen many statistics (or assumptions or facts!) so I will refer to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) magazine “Wildlife matters” Summer 2012/13 edition. On the cover the magazine has a photo of an angry feral cat with the copy “Feral Cats: killing 75 million native animals every night”. The article is also referred to in this AG article: http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2013/03/natural-born-killers-the-problem-with-cats The following extracts (key points) are taken from the magazine copy: 1. “Feral cats occur right across the continent in every habitat type including deserts, forests and grasslands” 2. “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. 3. “Each feral cat kills between 5-30 animals per day” 4. “Scotia (8,000 ha) contains the largest cat-free area on the mainland” 5. “Cats are difficult to locate and extremely wary, which makes trapping and shooting resource-intensive and impractical”. 6. “The removal of cats from one area is offset by immigration from adjacent areas” 7. “Baiting is also currently limited in effectiveness as cats do not readily take bait as they are live prey specialists” (Side note: the ABS indicates there are between 2.5M and 3.0M domestic cats in Australia). The article goes onto discuss strategies such as ground cover management to disrupt cats hunting efficiency, using dingoes, establishing cat-free areas and further research. My view is that education could also greatly assist in the management and control of domestic and feral cats in Australia. For example, mass marketing campaigns that explain the impact of feral cats on our national fauna. Communicate key statistics and educate cat owners and the general public about the importance of (for example) keeping your cat locked up at night and putting a bell on the cat (and changing it regularly). In many Australian localities, dogs are not allowed to roam the streets during the day or night. Why are cats allowed? There should also be cat curfews at night. We should be doing something as Australia has one of the world’s worst records for mammal (and bird) extinctions (which is set to continue). (Side note: Will the Night Parrot hang on? I actually wonder if John Young saw any feral cats at the Night Parrot site during the 17,000 hours he spent there! I might ask him at the presentation in Sydney on the 23rd July….). Finally, let us not forget that feral cats a major problems in countries all over the world including Great Britain (where they apparently have 7 million domestic cats and 1 million feral cats). Cheers, Charles Hunter Bronte, Sydney On Thursday, 10 July 2014 1:13 PM, Greg and Val Clancy <gclancy@tpg.com.au> wrote: Hi Julian, You make a number of good points in your rather emotional defence of you being a cat lover. The great frustration that people suffer when they see domestic cats roaming free and killing a whole range of native fauna, not just birds, without any real restrictions by government, causes people to get, like you, emotional and suggest rather radical, and sometimes impractical actions. It is not impractical, or unreasonable, though to insist on preventing the large number of domestic cats that are out killing wildlife during the day and night to be controlled. I personally would prefer no domestic cats in Australia but realise that this is not practical. I also accept that some people like cats, although I find little to like in them, unlike the larger members of the family such as Tigers, Leopards, Ocelots etc. which I find interesting and beautiful. You are right that it is not the cat’s fault that it is a cat and that it has been taken all over the world by humans to wreak havoc on the wildlife of many lands. So it is up to humans, in particular cat owners, to be responsible. I wouldn’t doubt that you would be a responsible cat owner but the evidence of roaming cats suggests that you are in the minority. Domestic cats should be confined to indoors or to a cat run when outdoors. It is not too much to ask of caring animal lovers to separate the unnatural predator from the unsuspecting prey. Regards Greg Dr Greg. P. Clancy Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide | PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460 | 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960 http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com/ http://gregswildliferamblings.blogspot.com.au/ —-Original Message—– From: Julian Bielewicz Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2014 8:48 AM To: Ross Macfarlane ; birding-aus@birding-aus.org Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] FW: Cats Unlike Ross, I am unashamedly a cat lover; nay, I consider myself an animal lover per se and make no exceptions. I have, over the years, travelled to many corners around the globe and on each occasion have come across top notch birders who also have a pet cat [or two]. That tally includes top birders here in Australia. The current anti-cat thread is an old chestnut that keeps raising its often nonsensical head on an almost regular basis and appears to become more radical with each reincarnation: de-sex ALL male cats; round them up and send them back to England; shoot all feral cats; shoot, or in some other way, do away with ALL domestic cats; etc., etc., ad nauseum, ad bloody nauseum. _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org