Australia has struggled for decades with large numbers of feral cats, which appear to be the most invasive species in the country. Now the country wants to force cats to stay indoors or give them a curfew because they kill too many other animals.
MGDS
Source:
The New York Times, Insider, The Sydney Morning Herald
Invasive species, animals that do not naturally occur in a country, are the biggest causes of biodiversity loss in Australia, a new report from the United Nations showed this week. Feral cats are the most invasive on the landscape, killing an estimated two billion animals every year, according to Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
The Australian government announced this week that it is “declaring war” on these invasive cats by releasing a draft action plan that includes measures such as creating programs for recreational hunters to shoot feral cats and euthanizing some cats in the wild. be caught wild.
Australia has long struggled with the problem of feral cats and has tried several measures in the past with programs to trap, shoot and poison them. Yet only in recent years has attention shifted to domestic cats. The effects of domestic and feral cats “bleed into each other,” Sarah Legge, a professor at Australian National University, told The New York Times. “Pets can become stray cats and stray cats can become feral cats. And they can also go the other way.”
One domestic cat kills an average of about 186 mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs per year, compared to the 748 animals one feral cat can kill, Legge’s research found. However, because domestic cats occur in higher numbers in suburbs, the total number of animals they kill per hectare in the suburbs is higher than the number that feral cats kill in the woods.
Curfew, staying indoors and restrictions
To protect the country’s biodiversity, the government is looking for solutions to the cat problem, according to The New York Times. The government’s new proposal now also focuses on domestic cats for the first time. The government is considering the possibility of a cat curfew, stay-at-home orders and limiting the number of cats households can own.
These ideas for controlling cat populations are not entirely new. Several local governments in Australia already rely on these types of regulations to protect their ecosystems. The proposal would standardize the rules and give local governments more authority to expand them as needed. The Australian public appears to be largely supportive of the measures.
Catamaran attacked by sharks off Australian coast: three passengers rescued
LOOK. About 100 whales swim in the shape of hearts, a few hours later they are all dead
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss anything from the stars.