Folks I have talked to quite a few ecologists about this at ANU, and the message I hear is much more mixed, suggesting that cat impact varies a lot from place to place, because cats do not only eat native animals, they eat a lot of rats, mice and rabbits. That said, there is a lot of variation in opinion. It is a while since I reread any of the work in WA on numbat reintroduction but at one stage their experimental manipulations on small mammal populations showed a large impact from fox control, but much less from cat control. Anyone kept up to date on this? I’ll come clean on this: I do have a domestic cat in inner Canberra where we rent, which takes a lot of rats (over 30 in one month) and no birds; I also have a bush property, and I would never keep a cat there (not until too old to hunt, anyway) kim Kim Sterelny Philosophy Program RSSS, ANU e-mail Kim.Sterelny@anu.edu.auKim.Sterelny@anu.edu.au>, Kim.Sterelny@vuw.ac.nzKim.Sterelny@vuw.ac.nz> ANU Contact Information Philosophy Program Research School of the Social Sciences Australian National University 0200 Canberra, ACT, Australia phone 61- (0)2 6125-2886; messages: Philosophy Program 61-(0)2 -6125 2341, fax 61-(0)2 – 6125 3294 On 02/07/2014, at 4:43 PM, Greg and Val Clancy wrote: I am with you Denise. There are a few responsible cat owners who keep their pets in doors or in a run in the yard but the majority don’t. With the millions of domestic cats in Australia the toll on wildlife must be great. People are usually aware of the impact of feral cats on native wildlife but don’t realise that their moggy is also a major threat. Any cat not in the owners house or cat run should be declared ‘feral’ and be eliminated. Years ago the NSW government produced a green paper on companion animals which called for serious and much needed controls on domestic pets, including cats. The pet food industry lobbied the government and the end result was a lame act, particularly with respect to cats. My aging mother-in-law, who had the early stages of dementia at the time, was being disturbed at night by a neighbour’s cat. The Council ranger said that they could only act after it was established that the cat was a nuisance and that my mother-in-law would need to keep a diary on the movements of the cat. I don’t blame the ranger as he has to work within the legislation but the control of cats is like the human over-population issue, the elephant in the room. 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: Denise Goodfellow Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 4:02 PM To: Carl Clifford Cc: Birding Aus Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Threatened species commissioner appointed to helpsave native wildlife | Environment | theguardian.com I challenge prominent Australians to stick their necks out and call for control of all cats. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71 Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841 On 2 Jul 2014, at 2:56 pm, Carl Clifford <carlsclifford@gmail.com> wrote: Nice to see that the Government is doing something about feral cat control. What the results will be, who knows. An awful lot of bait will have to be laid for effective control. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/02/threatened-species-commissioner-to-combat-decline-of-native-wildlife Carl Clifford _______________________________________________ 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 _______________________________________________ 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
I took Denise’s use of the word “delegitimise” to mean making cat ownership less attractive, rather than illegal. I think this is already happening with the increasing voluntary use of cat runs, although there is always a strong push back every time a local council tries to bring in tougher laws. Peter Shute Sent from my iPad _______________________________________________ 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