Australia is a country known worldwide for its fauna. When we think of it, kangaroos, koalas, spiders and many other animals come to mind, but now Australians worry about cats and the damage they are causing.
To this day, the city of Newhaven (south of Australia) confronts cats as they are guilty of the death of two billion animals a year. These cats do not distinguish between the species they hunt, so it has sometimes been assumed that their prey includes some in danger of extinction. The data has been collected in a report that the Australian parliament released this February, and which indicates that these cats are going after 34 disappeared species and another 74 threatened.
According to El Confidencial, by way of response, the institution presented the Project Noah, a plan to control what happened in Newhaven. The report toadvises greater cooperation between all levels of government to deal with feral cats and pets. This should be put in place as soon as possible, as every wild cat in Australia kills 390 mammals, 225 reptiles and 130 birds on average.
To reduce the impact of cats on the rest of nature, the report recommends several steps to follow, collected in turn by Smithsonian Mag. First of all, pet owners would have to be required to control their cats. This is a measure that seeks the liability on the part of the owners that your animals do not overfeed.
New measures for owners
Australia wants owners to consider spay and neuter cats with the aim of reducing the number of unwanted litters and the disposal of stray animals. In the writing it is also intended that there is a curfew to prevent pets from taking walks at night and thus cause them not to hunt animals, something that has generated discontent among Australians.
The curfews “would benefit native nocturnal mammals, but will not save birds and reptiles, which they are mainly active during the day “confesses John Woinarski, a biologist at Charles Darwin University who expected tougher initiatives: “Domestic cats kill 83 million native reptiles and 80 million Australian birds each year. From a wildlife perspective, monitoring domestic cats 24 hours a day, seven days a week is the only responsible option. “
Another proposal would be the indigenous hunting of cats to reduce the number of wild specimens.
Finally, the report acknowledged that what happened in Newhaven can only be solved by applying the first two measures and using cat hunters to eliminate the wild ones, building fences and reintroducing endangered species.
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