A Michael Broad Blog
The BBC is asking whether cats should be culled to stop extinctions. Of course, the author is discussing the culling of feral cats primarily in places where there are native species preyed upon by these cats. There have been rare instances of species being made extinct by predation from feral cats; hence the question. …
The Conversation website boldly states that “baiting foxes can make feral cats even more brazen”. That statement is based on a study of 1.5 million camera traps photographs taken in forests of Australia. They studied the photographs by hand. ‘Sympatric’ – where wild animals live in the same area or their distribution overlaps. Is …
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 …
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 …
On my reckoning, there are only 10 countries where the domestic cat is a native species or a non-invasive species. In all the other countries of the world the domestic cat could be described as an invasive species. So, what is an invasive species and where are these countries? Well, an invasive species is …
I have noticed that some Maine Coon breeders say that the Maine Coon is native to America. And the UK’s Premier cat Association, GCCF, says the same thing. If you believe in the scientific concept of non-native species, they are incorrect. A native species is one which completely originates in the place where that …
Domestic cats are not an invasive species in every country. Domestic cats are native to certain countries and in those countries they are not an invasive species. A species of animal is only “invasive” if they are not native or indigenous to a certain place. For cats this means that they were brought to …
The conservation of wild animals should go hand-in-hand with animal welfare. They are two branches of the same thing. Conservation protects wild animals and animal welfare laws protect wild and domestic animals. However, in Australia conservation is in direct conflict with animal welfare. They’ve got themselves into an unholy mess on the issue of …
