A local Queensland council has introduced a $10 bounty for feral cats, after it revealed the pests kill millions of native birds every year.
Banana Shire Council, in the Capricorn region of the sunshine state, has allocated $25,000 in its Land Protection budget to pay hunter’s $10 per feral cat and $5 per kitten.
The bounty will be restricted to feral cats destroyed on rural properties only.
Queensland’s Banana Shire council has introduced a $10 bounty for feral cats, after the pests kill millions of native birds every year
The council has allocated $25,000 in its Land Protection budget to pay hunter’s $10 per feral cat and $5 per kitten
Environment and planning manager Chris Welch said property owners did not have to be the party destroying the animals, but must sign a payment request form to give hunter’s permission to be on their property, the Courier Mail reports.
The legislation comes after an increase of feral cats in the area was found to be a leading cause of native bird deaths.
‘An increase in feral cat numbers has been observed, particularly though the rural areas of the shire, and council has received information from the Upper Dawson branch of the Queensland Wildlife Preservation Society raising the issue of impacts from feral and uncontrolled cats,’ Mr Welch said.
A study carried out by a group of environmental scientists from the Threatened Species Recovery Hub found feral cats kill 316 million birds every year, while pet cats kill 61 million birds.
A recent study found feral cats kill 316 million birds every year, while pet cats kill 61 million
Cats are a ‘deeply entrenched problem’ for Australian birds that ‘needs to be tackled more effectively’
The study showed cats kill birds from almost half of all species, and prey on 71 threatened bird species.
Lead researcher Professor John Woinarski from Charles Darwin University said cats were having a major negative impact on bird populations.
‘This study shows that, at a national level, the amount of predation is staggering, and is likely to be driving the ongoing decline of many species,’ he said.
‘For Australian birds, cats are a long-standing, broad-scale and deeply entrenched problem that needs to be tackled more effectively.
‘We found that the birds most likely to be killed by cats are medium sized birds, birds that nest and feed on the ground, and birds that occur on islands or in woodlands, grasslands and shrublands.’