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by Kelsey Pape
Australia has a long history with facing the problem of the extinction of many different animal species. To date, they have lost 29 mammal species that were native to the continent. Federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, states, “We are drawing a line in the sand today which says "on our watch, in our time, no more species extinction. It’s tough, it’s a challenge, we can do much and we can do better.” |
Unfortunately one of the greatest, current contributors to diminishing populations of many endangered species such as; the western quoll, the numbat, the mala, the Kangaroo Island dunnart, and the mountain pygmy-possum, is the overrunning population of feral cats in Australia who are killing off other native species by the masses.
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The proposed solution to this issue is a tough one for any animal lovers, particularly cat lovers, to swallow. Hunt’s plan is to humanely cull two million cats (one tenth of the feral feral cat population in Australia) over the next five years. While the specific method has not been revealed, he has assured the public it will be as quick and painless as possible. Part of the plan is also to build 10 enclosures where there are no cats and the endangered species in the area are more likely to survive longer and reproduce, so that their
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populations can build back up. The feral cats of Australia have evolved into vicious, hunters that are larger and stronger than the stray cats we are used to in the United states. Other species native to Australia do not stand a chance in a fight up against these vicious hunters.
The feral cats of Australia kill approximately 75 million native animals every day and are almost entirely responsible for the elimination of 28 species. It’s a difficult issue to come to terms with, but unfortunately, if nothing is done there is no telling how many more species will go extinct. In a perfect world, we could snap our fingers and have all these cats be spayed and neutered, and the issue of their overpopulation would take care of itself without having to take the lives of so many cats, but unfortunately no one would ever back up the funding for such an expensive and time consuming solution. It’s true that sometimes it is best to let nature run it’s course, but the issue here is that humans are the ones who originally introduced these cats to Australia, so humans have to deal with the problem of their overpopulation. We can only hope that this will be handled as humanely as possible and that it will take care of the issue at hand, so that this never has to happen again, and all species can inhabit the same, balanced environment without facing extinction.
The feral cats of Australia kill approximately 75 million native animals every day and are almost entirely responsible for the elimination of 28 species. It’s a difficult issue to come to terms with, but unfortunately, if nothing is done there is no telling how many more species will go extinct. In a perfect world, we could snap our fingers and have all these cats be spayed and neutered, and the issue of their overpopulation would take care of itself without having to take the lives of so many cats, but unfortunately no one would ever back up the funding for such an expensive and time consuming solution. It’s true that sometimes it is best to let nature run it’s course, but the issue here is that humans are the ones who originally introduced these cats to Australia, so humans have to deal with the problem of their overpopulation. We can only hope that this will be handled as humanely as possible and that it will take care of the issue at hand, so that this never has to happen again, and all species can inhabit the same, balanced environment without facing extinction.
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