Compassionate conservationists believe no animal should be killed in the name of conservation. This idea is a death knell for Australia’s native species.
A brush-tailed rabbit-rat, one of the small mammals disappearing in northern Australia.
Cara Penton
Small mammals in northern Australia have been rapidly vanishing for the last 30 years, and scientists weren’t sure why. Now, a major new study found feral livestock are largely to blame.
The Kangaroo Island dunnart was listed as critically endangered before fires ripped through 95% of its habitat. Those that survived the fires now face the threat of feral cats.
Ownerless cats may find it harder to find food scraps with restaurants closed during the coronavirus crisis. Given social distancing rules, is it okay to go outside to feed them?
Wildlife can smell and hear a fire coming, and have developed novel ways to evade it. But they must watch out for cunning predators rushing in for a feed.
New research suggests feral cats can probably outsmart dingoes.
Wikimedia/AAP
A new exhibition and book urging us to eat invasive species are beautiful but come across as little more than an exquisitely designed elitist spectacle.
Feral cats are linked to the extinction of at least 20 Australian mammals.
Shutterstock
The plan to kill 2 million feral cats nationwide by 2020 makes for good headlines. But it’s also a simplistic goal that won’t necessarily deliver conservation benefits to native species.
Healthy Tasmanian devil populations have cornered the market on carrion.
Menna Elizabeth Jones
A new study involving leaving animal carcasses strewn across Tasmania shows that in places where devils have dwindled, other scavengers are stepping up to fill the gap, with nasty knock-on effects.
A feral cat snapped by a remote camera in the wild.
NT government
The average Australian feral cat kills 225 reptiles a year, which adds up to 596 million in total, according to a new estimate. Pet cats, meanwhile, kill a further 53 million.
On the prowl in the outback.
Hugh McGregor/Arid Recovery
For the first time, researchers have estimated the toll taken by feral and pet cats on Australia’s bird life - and the numbers are high enough to push several species towards extinction.