DOMESTIC and stray cats are causing massive destruction of wildlife on both sides of the Border, and a leading conservationist says residents are blase about the issue.
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There are an estimated 16,000 domestic cats in
Albury-Wodonga but the number of strays exceeds that with an informed estimate of another 20,000 feral felines.
Dr Michael Mulvaney, a director of the Albury Conservation Company, says the felines are devastating wildlife around the twin cities, particularly along the Albury ranges, at Thurgoona and the extensive parklands around Wodonga.
Dr Mulvaney has undertaken extensive research on the escalating problem and said residents would be alarmed if they knew the full extent of it.
The Albury Conservation Company was established in 2006 to help protect and enhance the natural environment of the Thurgoona area, as well as to inform and engage the community in conservation management.
Dr Mulvaney is based in Canberra where there are stringent restrictions on cats including bans in some suburbs.
The 2006 census showed an average of 1.47 cats per Australian household.
On that basis, there might be in the vicinity of 44,000 cats in Albury which has 30,000 households, while Wodonga with 15,000 households could have up to 22,000.
But Dr Mulvaney said that statistic may be overstated.
He said the figure was more like 25 per cent of households, with gives the figure of 16,000 cats for this region.
“It is pretty hard to get a handle on the number of stray cats,” Dr Mulvaney said.
He said detailed research of 30 households in Canberra revealed cat predation on 67 different native bird species.
Dr Mulvaney said cats also killed native mice and lizards along with birds.
“They will eat moths, spiders, basically anything,” he said.
Dr Mulvaney said Albury-Wodonga was similar to the ACT with important corridors of natural habitat left untouched.
He highlighted Thurgoona, with a host of threatened birds, squirrel gliders and the Sloane’s Froglet as one area where major conservation action was needed.
Dr Mulvaney said Thurgoona was one of two keys areas left in Australia for the endangered Sloane’s Froglet.
He said cats were no doubt having an impact on the froglet.
The scientific data from the ACT paper showed feral cats had an average life expectancy of two to three years.
Domestic cats which were unrestrained and not confined lived six to seven years.
Confined cats lived between 12 and 15 years and provided social welfare benefits as companion animals for longer periods.
The study showed most cat movement was at night over some distance.
The conclusion after examining tracking and other evidence was that cats moved between 500 metres and 900 metres commonly at night.
