While Australia is home to some of the most impressive wildlife, it is also home to a sad fact. Being in complete isolation has its pros and cons. The benefits are extraordinary flora and fauna that exist nowhere else in the world. The cost is that these creatures have nowhere to go when things turn sour. Unfortunately, Australia is at the top of the charts for animal extinction, but evidence shows they may now know why. Could feral cats and foxes be the answer to Australia's extinction problem?
Australia's Extinction Issue: How Feral Cats And Foxes Are Involved
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The Conservation shared these staggering statistics. First, "Australia is the world leader in mammal extinctions." Second, "About 40 species have gone extinct in the 238 years since European colonisation began." Finally, "nearly 80 species are now imperilled." With disheartening facts like those, it is imperative to discuss the extinction of many mammals in Australia. Now, scientists may have discovered the answers. This evidence suggests that the presence of feral cats and foxes has been a "key driver" in many mammals becoming extinct.
Australian mammals had no issues surviving alongside predators such as the wedge-tailed eagle or dingo. However, exposure to the feral cats and foxes has many fairing differently. Scientists argue that it is because these two creatures are "capable and ecologically flexible hunters, quite unlike anything Australia's mammals had confronted before." Some evidence that supports these claims is that the majority of species that are suffering in Australia are small-to-medium-sized mammals. Also known as perfect prey for both the feral cats and foxes.
Also, when these animals are removed from the area and placed in a location free of those two predators, their numbers begin to flourish once again. However, other researchers questioned the validity of such a claim. Those in opposition argued that if feral cats and foxes were to blame, then "The last recorded sighting of a now extinct mammal from an area must come after the arrival of one or both of these predator species."
Additionally, if these predators were at fault, then lethal management programs aimed at reducing the predators' populations should result in "an increase in native mammal numbers in the area." Given these grey areas, the researchers claimed that many accepted the idea with little evidence to support it.
What Can Be Done?
Despite the controversy over the topic, protecting wildlife in Australia remains a top concern. Many still believe that "The survival and recovery of much of Australia's native mammal fauna depends on controlling cats and foxes." Many control programs have been implemented to try to revive some of the native species populations. While these control programs do not always work, depending on several other factors, experts argue that "If this objective is abandoned because of arguments that feral cats and foxes are simply innocent bystanders, we risk rapidly losing many of these imperilled species."
