Australia Out To Slaughter Feral Cats Again -But It's "Fun"

This is how the Australian NSW Parks and Wildlife Service promoted their planned killing spree:

" Do you want to join us and help stop feral cats killing our native wildlife? We are recruiting people to join our first-ever dedicated feral cat control team!

Every year, feral cats kill around 1.5 billion native animals across Australia. They are a key cause of Australia having the worst mammal extinction record in the world and are a direct threat to over 200 at-risk species.

After three good rain seasons in western NSW, feral cat numbers are up and will be putting huge pressure on threatened species populations in #NSWParks. To tackle this problem, we are establishing a team of expert feral cat controllers to protect threatened animals like the yellow-footed rock wallaby, dusky hopping-mouse, grey grasswren, and Barrier Range dragon.

Experience with hands-on control of feral cats and a commitment to the safe operation of firearms and animal welfare are essential for these roles. The team members will undertake ground shooting, baiting and trapping as well as managing remote sensors and cameras."

It is almost phrased as a "Come along and have some fun" invitation. Firstly; "Billions" -not the usual over exaggerated "millions" as Australia loves to over exaggerate so its 1.5 billion" and every year. Who is doing the counting or is this just one of those "we know ten of those were killed so if we pretend we have this number of feral cats and multiple that again as well as what might have been killed we come up with aq ridiculous and unprovable figure" type things?

1.5 billion over a 12 year period totals out to...... 18000000000  animals killed.  So...Australia only has starving feral cats left? 

Trap, neuter and release has always been found to be the best way to cut down feral cat populations where needed.

Foxes and cats in Australia are snared, shot, poisoned , electrocuted and worse and people are then shocked that with two main predators killed off there are "plagues" (again over exaggeration as you can have an explosion ion the rodent population but plague is a disease so illiteracy there) of mice and rats and rabbits.

The native wild canid, the Dingo, is still being killed. Why? Because like the thylacine or Hokkaido wolf or the Falkland Islands wolf it's fun and a good scapegoat for what humans have done.

Birds, reptiles and many other animals are being killed yearly BY humans in Australia and that includes by aboriginal peoples but human kill rate intentional or collateral) is never even looked at.

Choosing cats (and foxes) as a scapegoat species and seemingly advertising the event as great fun is pointless.

Australia, as any real Australian naturalist will tell you, and I was told by several many years ago, does not have as good record when it comes to conservation and protecting species -they call it "The Blood Red Continent".

Once the cats and foxes are killed off which animal will get the blame then - the koala?

You cannot eradicate one or two introduced species which are now native because it is convenient and distracts from what humans are doing. A balance needs to be struck. Am I accusing humans over animals?

In the Great Emu War of 1932, the Australian military went to war against a species of flightless bird. And lost. The emu, a large flightless bird, is one of the national symbols of Australia. Now that is historical fact.

Eradication of dingoes almost succeeded and they are native.

Ordering thousands of kangaroos to be killed or ordering thousands of camels killed by shooting from helicopters. Facts and no feral cat involved.

None of it does any good. It needs serious and intelligent discussion. Using a flame-thrower to kill mice is not humane or nice. Nature reaches a balance and Predators take care of Prey so Dingoes, foxes and cats will kill rabbits and mice as part of their regular and standard diet. Other animals are opportunistic and it may just be that Australia needs to look up the word "Evolution". For many, many millennia new species arrive and the older either adapt their life style and habits or are slowly replaced. Natural selection.

When it comes to wanton killing off of species the biggest threat are humans. Feral cats kill (a very dubious figure) 1.5 billion a year.

The most recent data about land animals bred, kept and slaughtered for consumption has revealed a figure higher than ever before: An estimated 92.2 billion land animals are kept and slaughtered annually in the global food system, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.

An estimated 1.6 trillion wild animals are killed by humans every year. Tonnes of animals such as elephants and pangolins are trafficked yearly. For 'fun' not for food.

But do not worry because, as vermin, however, the human race is attempting to successfully eradicate itself as a species.

Oh....

Nature Conservation Council of NSW

@naturensw

·

Nov 18, 2022

We just found out that the people of NSW have spent another $9 million over the past year subsiding the native forest logging industry in NSW. Scenes in the video below are unfolding everyday across the state, destroying critical wildlife habitat. It's a disgrace.

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