In 1788, cats were brought to Australia after more than 200 years later, the country's native wildlife is still paying the price
How feral cats spread across almost every corner of Australia How millions of hunting cats are changing Australia's ecosystems A growing threat to Australia's native
How feral cats spread across almost every corner of Australia How millions of hunting cats are changing Australia's ecosystems A growing threat to Australia's native fauna Wildlife that never evolved with cats Feral cat removal is bringing lost wildlife back Australia is still struggling to contain feral cats The domestic cat arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788, introduced as a familiar companion and a practical way to control rodents. Within decades, many had escaped or been abandoned, gradually establishing wild populations far beyond early settlements. By the late nineteenth century, they had spread across almost the entire continent, adapting to landscapes ranging from humid forests and mountain ranges to some of the driest deserts on Earth. More than two centuries after their arrival, feral cats have become one of the country's most persistent environmental challenges. Their success lies not in their numbers alone, but in their ability to survive almost anywhere while hunting an extraordinary range of native wildlife that evolved without such an efficient predator.As reported by the WA Feral Cat Working Group, Australia now supports an estimated 1.4 to 5.6 million feral cats, although numbers fluctuate with rainfall, food availability and seasonal conditions. Unlike domestic pets, these animals survive entirely by hunting, often travelling large distances through bushland, grasslands and remote inland regions.Their diet changes depending on what is available, which partly explains why they have spread so successfully.Small mammals, reptiles, frogs, birds and large invertebrates all become prey.
They are capable of taking tiny skinks weighing only a few grams, yet they have also been recorded killing wallabies close to their own body weight.Even isolated habitats provide little protection. Feral cats now occupy virtually the entire Australian mainland and more than one hundred offshore islands, reaching places where many threatened native animals make their last stand.Predation by cats has become one of the largest ongoing pressures on Australia's native fauna. Reportedly, estimates suggest feral cats alone kill around 272 million birds, 466 million reptiles, 815 million mammals and roughly 1.1 billion invertebrates every year.When pet cats and stray cats are included, the combined figure exceeds three billion native animals annually. As reported by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, a single feral cat living in bushland may kill close to 1.5 billion native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs, and 1.1 billion invertebrates each yearThese losses accumulate over decades rather than appearing as a single event. Small mammals that once occupied broad areas have gradually disappeared from many regions, while isolated populations continue to shrink under constant predation pressure.Australia has experienced one of the world's highest rates of mammal extinction since European settlement, and feral cats have been identified as an important factor in many of those losses.As reported by pestSMART and Invasive Species Council, they have contributed to the disappearance of 27 of Australia's 34 extinct native mammals, along with two native bird species and all three reptile extinctions recorded since colonisation.
The BriefWire