I had never heard of the word ‘nativist’ until Nathan Winograd used it. It is good one when used to describe the Aussie attitude to feral and stray cats. Nativists believe in nativism which means, “the political policy of promoting or protecting the interests of ‘native-born’ or established inhabitants over those of immigrants, including …
A study found that feather boas are effective in luring feral cats. The person who carried out the study, Alexandra Paton, a PhD student at Tasmania’s School of Natural Sciences at the University of Tasmania, doesn’t tell us in so many words exactly why she is so excited about feral cats being lured by …
The war against domestic and feral cats in Australia continues unabated. It looks like a war to me and in line with that analogy, the latest policy of a north-west Sydney council, Hornsby Shire, was cruel because it would have led to pointless and possibly illegal cat killing. On my understanding, Hornsby Shire local …
There is a confusing (to me) and complex interplay between the feral cats on the Australian continent, the rabbits upon which they prey, and the conservation of precious native mammals. European rabbits were introduced to Australia in the 18th century. European cats were also introduced to the continent at a similar time (as were …
Land clearing was given as the primary cause of wildlife losses in Australia in the Australia state of the environment report 2022. It paints a grisly picture of catastrophic loss on that continent which is so enriched with native species. More than 80% of the country’s nearly 400 mammal species are native only to …
On reading the story about the creation of a contraceptive specifically designed to reduce the population size of gray squirrels in the UK, I immediately thought of the feral cat in Australia. If you want to do something humane for feral cats on the planet, think of the feral cats of Australia where they …
NEWS AND COMMENT-KANGAROO ISLAND, AUSTRALIA: The headline on the online version of the Independent newspaper is: “Tiny marsupial that survived wildfires now under threat by feral cats”. The headline is based upon research from the University of Adelaide in Australia. I am unable to read that research because I don’t have access to it …
I’ve recently been doing research on whether owning a caracal is illegal in Australia (I shouldn’t have bothered). It was very hard research because the documentation provided by Australian administrations was poor. What I found was a continual reference to “pests” and “invasive species” or “alien species” or “non-native species”. To Australians non-native species …
