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Feral and Domestic Cat (Felis Catus) Problems in Australia

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Feral and Domestic Cat (Felis Catus) Problems in Australia 1 2 3 4 5 Feral and domestic cat (Felis catus) problems in 6 Australia. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 The urgency to save the natural world from the impacts of mankind, has never been more critical than it 14 is now. Native wildlife species are struggling to exist in their natural habits, from the increasing forces of 15 humans and the competitive pressures from introduced invasive species. The introduction of the cat to 16 Australia for rodent management since 1804 -1886 from visiting ships, has them exponentially settled 17 across 99.8% of the land area and a direct connection in the loss of 10% of 273 native species that have 18 now been listed as extinct in Australia. Cats are being documented to kill 815 million mammals and 19 greater numbers of birdlife per year. Spreading disease to humans, commercial livestock and native 20 species with greater environmental, conservation and economic impacts, which is currently not being 21 publicly conversant. Globally the health hazard to humans of parasitic infection from cat contact, infects 22 30-50% of the worlds human population. Therefore, understanding this prevailing invasive predator 23 species to Australia is critical for conserving native species and the betterment of future management 24 across Australia’s unique landscape. 25 26 27 28 29 30 Submission: Nicole Galea 1 31 Authors Bio: 32 My Name is Nicole Galea, my relevant qualifications include: Bachelor Animal Ecology, Bachelor 33 of Science (Hons1) Zoology - (Current research in review for publication), Cert IV in Government 34 Investigations and Cert IV in Workplace Training & Assessing. 35 36 I live on the Sunshine Coast – Maleny and have previously worked with University of the Sunshine 37 Coast, Sunshine Coast Council and Sunshine Coast Council Mary Caincross Reserve during my 38 research on cats. 39 40 41 My Unique Knowledge: Over the past 4 years I have focused my research on cats 42 (domestic/stray/feral) and their impacts to the natural landscapes and how the current invasive 43 species management policies are lacking the education platform to public awareness. What is 44 evident, is that the current legislation has limitations and the Threat Abatement Plan for predation 45 by feral cats has not effectively executed the objectives of the current plan. 46 47 My current investigative research has reviewed the effectiveness of a retail prey protector device 48 for free-roaming domestic cats. This study was aimed to identify the biomechanical changes to a 49 cats natural movement and hunting behaviours when wearing the device, to reduce the impacts on 50 native wildlife species. My study found progressive findings in that cats reduced their high energy 51 hunting behaviours when wearing the prey-protector device and zero animal kill-return rates 52 occurred. I also found that cats did not acclimate to wearing the device over time, like they do with 53 bells etc. The device is a safe and cost-effective solution ($17) to better manage free-roaming 54 domestic cats to reduce the impacts on native wildlife species, for the interim, until better 55 mandatory legislation is applied to cat owners. 56 57 My availability for enquiry: I’m available for all consult, project management, employment and 58 public hearings. 59 Submission: Nicole Galea 2 60 Content: 61 62 Terms of reference for the Committee’s inquiry are: 63 1. The prevalence of feral and domestic cats in Australia; (p.4-) 64 2. The impact of feral and domestic cats including on native wildlife and habitats; (p.5-7) 65 3. The effectiveness of current legislative and regulatory approaches - QLD; (p.7-18) 66 4. The effectiveness of Commonwealth action and cooperation with states and territories on 67 this issue, including progress made under the Threat Abatement Plan, national framework 68 and national declaration relating to feral and domestic cats in Australia; (p.18-19) 69 5. The efficacy (of reducing the impact of cats), cost effectiveness and use of current and 70 emerging methods and tools for controlling feral cats, including baiting, the establishment of 71 feral cat-free areas using conservation fencing, gene drive technology; (p.19) 72 6. The efficacy of import controls for high risk domestic cat varieties to prevent the impacts of 73 feral and domestic cats, including on native wildlife and habitats; (p.19-20) 74 7. Public awareness and education in relation to the feral and domestic cat problem; (p.20- 75 23.) 76 8. The interaction between domestic cat ownership and the feral cat problem, and best 77 practice approaches to the keeping of domestic cats in this regard. (p.23-24) 78 • Appendix – Suggested Cat Management Plan Objectives. (p.25-26) 79 • Reference (p.27-30) Submission: Nicole Galea 3 80 1) The prevalence of feral and domestic cats in Australia 81 Since domestication, cats Felis catus have become one of the most abundant and widespread 82 terrestrial quadruped carnivores in the world [18]. Now, domestic cats have progressed forward 83 from the use in farming management to become a treasured and valued family pet [21,22,43]. 84 In recent years, however, with the limited government educational efforts targeted to the 85 community concerning cats’ and their impacts to local fauna, there still has been public 86 awareness which has resulted in pet cat ownership declining from 5 million to 3.9 million 87 individuals in Australia [22,25,42]. 88 89 Cats are currently occupying 99.8% of Australia’s land area according to the latest research 90 [19]. A recent study established that the feral unowned cat population in Australia is estimated 91 over 2.1 million individuals and found a feral cat fluctuation between 1.4 million in extreme 92 drought conditions to 5.6 million after widespread wet periods [25,19]. Other supporting 93 studies emphasised that the greatest native species population declines, and extinctions were 94 occurring from predation from unowned-feral cats, in semi-arid and arid areas across Australia 95 [43]. The unowned-stray cat population is estimated as 1- 1.2 million and is projected that city- 96 strays to be 60-100 per 1000 humans, and free-roaming owned pet cats has been estimated 97 over 3.9 million individuals [25,29]. 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 Submission: Nicole Galea 4 109 110 2) The impact of feral and domestic cats including on native wildlife and 111 habitats; 112 • Cat hunting behaviours 113 Cats possess a strong, flexible body, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws and teeth that 114 are very effective at executing a final fatal bite to prey [4]. Cats also have an acute acoustic 115 adaption to higher frequency sounds, emitted by small mammals and birds [42]. With the 116 ability to filter noises and sounds pitched higher than dogs and humans can possibly hear, 117 cats can locate prey on sound alone [42]. These highly effective evolved predatory features 118 blend a cats nature to a crepuscular and predatory ecological niche [17]. These 119 physiological features and instinctual hunting behaviours are very effective against small 120 Australian native species, which have few evolutionary adaptations to counter the efficacy 121 of such predators [13,25]. Australia has unfortunately experienced the highest rate of 122 mammal extinction on Earth with the introduction of cats and the red fox (Vulpes Vulpes) 123 according to recent research [5,16,44]. 124 125 126 Cats are currently listed by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red 127 List as one of the top 100 most destructive introduced invasive species around the globe 128 [22,16]. In Australia, free-roaming pet cats hunt and kill 180 million individual prey species 129 per year [25,45]. Recent findings indicate that cats have contributed significantly to the loss 130 of 10% of 273 native species that have now been listed as extinct in Australia [25]. Cats 131 have also contributed to an additional decline of 21% of small native wildlife species which 132 are listed as threatened from the (IUCN) Red List [7, 22,25]. A recent study showed that 133 the feral cat population, estimated at 2.1 million individuals, kills 815 million mammals per 134 year (95% CI: 530 – 1,414 million) [25]. This is further supported by current research, 135 highlighting that the greatest native species population declines, and extinctions were 136 occurring from predation from feral cats, in semi-arid and arid areas across Australia. In the Submission: Nicole Galea 5 137 urban areas alone, the unowned-stray cat population, is estimated at >700 000 thousand 138 individuals, that kills 149 million mammals per year [25,43]. Whereas, pet cat population is 139 estimated at 3.9 million, and the free-roaming individuals kill 180 million mammals per year, 140 returning home only 18.6% of the prey kills [25]. On average, it is estimate that each free- 141 roaming pet cat kills 46.4 mammals per year [25] Overall, many studies have shown that 142 cats are a major threat to native species survival [3,11,25,19]. 143 144 • Quantifiable impact of cats 145 Cats are highly effective hunters, displaying variations in hunting tactics and prey-specific 146 behaviours [8,9,20,23]. Their high level of environmental adaptability and effective 147 predation behaviours including disease transmission makes them fatal to native wildlife 148 species [8,9,20,23,24,25,44]. Cats also are the definitive hosts for a common disease- 149 causing parasite (Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis and Cryptosporidium), although other 150 warm-blooded animals can act as transitional hosts to spread the diseases, cats are the 151 optimal original host.
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