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Cats in Australia

A taxidermy feral cat with a Major Mitchell's cockatoo at the Central Australian Museum

Feral cats are an invasive species in Australia. Because they are not native to Australia and were only introduced by European colonists as pets in the early 1800s, native Australian animals did not co-evolve with them.[1] As of 2016, some 3.8 million domestic cats and up to 6.3 million feral cats continue to live in Australia.[2][3][needs update]

The Invasive Species Council has estimated that each year domestic and feral cats in Australia kill 1,067 million mammals, 399 million birds, 609 million reptiles, 93 million frogs, and 1.8 billion invertebrates.[4] As one of the most ecologically damaging and the most costly invasive species in Australia, predation by both domestic and feral cats has played a role in the extinction of many of Australia's indigenous animals. For instance, cats are found to have significantly contributed to the extinction of at least 22 endemic Australian mammals since the arrival of Europeans.[5]

For biosecurity reasons, any cats that are imported into Australia must meet conditions set by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

  1. ^ "Cute killers: Cats kill more than 1.5 billion Australian native animals a year". www.cdu.edu.au. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Legge, S.; Murphy, B.P.; McGregor, H.; Woinarski, J.C.Z.; Augusteyn, J.; Ballard, G.; Baseler, M.; Buckmaster, T.; Dickman, C.R.; Doherty, T.; Edwards, G.; Eyre, T.; Fancourt, B.A.; Ferguson, D.; Forsyth, D.M.; Geary, W.L.; Gentle, M.; Gillespie, G.; Greenwood, L.; Hohnen, R.; Hume, S.; Johnson, C.N.; Maxwell, M.; McDonald, P.J.; Morris, K.; Moseby, K.; Newsome, T.; Nimmo, D.; Paltridge, R.; Ramsey, D.; Read, J.; Rendall, A.; Rich, M.; Ritchie, E.; Rowland, J.; Short, J.; Stokeld, D.; Sutherland, D.R.; Wayne, A.F.; Woodford, L.; Zewe, F. (February 2017). "Enumerating a continental-scale threat: How many feral cats are in Australia?". Biological Conservation. 206: 293–303. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.11.032.
  4. ^ "Cats in Australia". Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  5. ^ Aguirre, Jessica Camille (25 April 2019). "Australia Is Deadly Serious About Killing Millions of Cats". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
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