Quoll Movie

This winter Samantha Vine, Threatened Species Network Regional Manager accompanied the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service on a tiger quoll survey in the NSW Northern Tablelands. Whilst this area is a stronghold for the mainland population, she discovered how difficult it is to find these elusive endangered species and highlights some of the main threats to Australia's largest mainland carnivore.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Quoll
• TSN
• rivers
• national
• park
• WWF
• Australia

[43894674126438564036]

Foxes are easy to extinctify if you want to.

[Snurdgerbly]

I suggest that a good way to control cats is to displace them from the suburban back yard by replacing them with quolls and wallabies. Wallabies can be purchased as pets in the US and UK, why not here? Put down your gun and take up your pen to lobby for a sure future for native animals in a drastically altered environment which has always been changing and will continue to do so.

[Snurdgerbly]

There is a few species of rodent in Australia, none of which are "native" in the way Quolls are. They arrived in 3 waves; the "old endemics", 10-15 million years ago; the "new endemics", about 2 million years ago, and the most recent wave arrived with european settlers. Can't comment about the number of feral rats taken by cats, but I once lived in an area troubled with mice, and a good mouser was highly prized

[ihaveairlockers]

Where are these "rodents" that cats are pursuing and eating ?? Have you ever travelled in the outback ?? The rodents that feral cats kill are ALL NATIVE. The amount of introduced rats that cats eat is SO SMALL IT IS NOT FUNNY. Let me tell you again how to control cats. 1) Shooting 2) Trapping 3) Education 4) Biological. I would dearly like to know where and how many intro'd rats are being taken by feral cats ? We can help the balance, even with us being here. Shoot a cat today !

[Snurdgerbly]

BTW - the narrator refers to "threatening processes, such as habitat loss and the impact of foxes". To return to my first point, if Quolls were kept as pets - and they make delightful companion animals - they would naturally displace the domestic cat in the human-altered environment, without a shot being fired.

[Snurdgerbly]

...and think carefully before you next blast away at a feral cat. If you kill the dominant male, you'll risk triggering a population explosion when subordinate males gain access to his females. Your attention might be more profitably directed towards the huge packs of savage feral dogs that are ravaging the rangelands, or take a drive from Cobar to Broken Hill and observe the damage done by feral goats. Cats are but a blip on the radar, a minor irritant compared to the real feral villians.

[Snurdgerbly]

I'm not defending cats, but they are now part of a complex web of feral predator and pray animals. Just

"getting rid of cats" would need a very well thought out strategy of simulaneously removing the other ferals which they now control (eg rodents). The greatest pressure on Quolls comes from loss of habitat.  Cats don't belong here, but by this logic, neither do us whitefellas. We have to get used to the idea that there is no place for us in the fantasy world of a "pristine" environment.

[ihaveairlockers]

There is NO problem getting rid of cats. It's easy. Shooting, trapping, and educating the public.

For every rabbit taken by a feral cat, there is hundreds of birds, lizards and small native fauna killed.

I see your point and know about Macquarie Island but if we got rid of all cats it would be a damn good start.

All cats should be removed from australia. They DO NOT belong here !

I love blasting a feral cat with a 12 guage !

[Snurdgerbly]

Actually there are problems with just "getting rid" of cats.  In many areas they have become speciated and predate on other ferals, like rabbits. Look what happened on Macquarie Island (Cat Kill Devastates Macquarie Island, SMH, 14/01/09).

[ihaveairlockers]

More people shooting cats is a start...

Get rid of the cats.

The law should be changed to ban the domestic cat from australia. They are so bad for the aussie bush. ( and the fauna in the cities too ! )

I would rather shoot a feral cat than shoot a pig, although the pig is a disaster in itself... Both need to be destroyed.

My parents run a huge private quoll sanctuary in south west queensland. It's nice to see them.