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Editor's note
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They may be friends to humans, but pet cats are enemies of our small native wildlife. A new study, the first to nationally quantify the extent pet cats – not feral – hunt wildlife, found they kill a staggering number of animals.
On average, every pet cat kills 186 reptiles, birds and mammals per year, most of them native. That’s 390 million animals per year in Australia.
Don’t think your cat can be lumped in with the rest of the offenders? There’s a chance your cat is sneaking off at night without you knowing (it happens almost 40% of the time), and the bell on its collar doesn’t necessarily work. What’s more, cats bring home only 15% of their prey on average – so just because you haven’t seen a carcass that doesn’t mean your cat isn’t hunting.
In this article, Jaana Dielenberg from the Threatened Species Hub takes us through the numbers and explains why life indoors for cats isn’t so bad.
PS. We still need your help. If you haven’t donated yet, please give today – every little bit counts and we’re relying on our readers more than ever to give. And if you’ve already given, thank you!
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Anthea Batsakis
Deputy Editor: Environment + Energy
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