This article mainly focuses on how feral cats affect the Great Sandy Desert.
In Australia feral cats cover up about 99.8% of the Great Sandy Desert. The research shows that the total amount of feral cats in the desert is much lower than the previous years of feral cats in the Great Sandy Desert. Agencies are responsible for managing cat populations and would enable better planning for baiting, trapping, shooting or other eradication programs (Legge). A recent researcher announced a plan to kill around two million feral cats in the Great Sandy Desert, and plan on killing more as the years go on and the population of feral cats gets higher. Feral cats are responsible for the extinction of about 20 native Australian species. They are the single biggest threat to our native animals,
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The Australian government has announced war on the feral cats population in the Great Sandy Desert. Millions of feral cats will be killed to save Australia’s threatened wildlife (Hunt). Feral cats have threatened about over 100 native species, In Australia, including the Great Sandy Desert, along with the extinction of at least 27 mammal species. “Over time, plants and animals that once thrived our continent have been pushed to the brink. We need to step in, for their sake and for ours” (Hunt). Now we are stepping in and killing as many feral cats as possible so more plants and animals will live in the Great Sandy Desert. Since there has been several thousand killings from feral cats, Australia’s government is building 10 cat-free safe havens for all the animals at risk. There are around 1.4 million feral cats after droughts but the number jumps up to around 5.6 feral cats after extensive wet periods, which results in more prey for the feral cats to hunt. Another 700,000 feral cats are estimated to live in other environments in Australia, including urban areas, dumps, and farms. The government say that since
Did you know that you happen to be surrounded by invasive species? These species are animals that come into areas they do not belong in. The articles, “Invaders among Us,” and “Invader Alert,” show this. They harm the environment, cost tons of money in damage and extermination, and they have to be prevented.
Currently the main sources of population control for the brumby population is either culling or rehoming them through a series of steps. Within the media there has been outrages over the culling, in particular aerial shootings, which does not always provide accuracy in killing the horses nor seem to be the most humane option. There are more options available to control the ever-growing population, mainly through contraceptive methods which reduce foal numbers each year. Implementing these techniques requires careful planning but can be very effective when used, to in general, decrease herd numbers and allow the ecosystem to return to a somewhat natural state.
... What we are able to do is treat all species with respect and do what we can so that they can thrive in a world that we have altered. We can preserve a species without alienating another. Preserving the Australian fauna at the cost of some feral dogs is the choice we have to make for the good of the biological make-up of that region. Dogs themselves won’t go extinct and we’ve also eliminated a threat to other species, including ourselves.
This article reviews the impacts and management of feral cats Felis catus in Australia. It provides information on the impacts of biodiversity and the main factors responsible including; predation, competition and disease transmission. It also discusses the impacts on agriculture, history and distribution and how the feral cat was introduced, the areas of land surface the feral cat is now established in.
The purpose of conducting this experiment is to find out how an invasive species affects different native animals. In the past, invasive species have spread disease, created more competition, and grown exponentially to destroy land. By comparing populations between native birds and an invasive species, in this case the Eurasian Collared Dove, we can find out how the native birds were affected. We examine how the Eurasian Collared dove affects populations of native birds in San Diego. Further research would allow us to view the reasoning behind what occurred to the native species.
Research of coyotes occurred in a 194-km2 area of Elk Island National Park (EINP), of Alberta, Canada. 51 coyotes were captured between 15 November-1 April over a period of 9,379 trap nights and 7,421 trap days. Researchers took care in assembling the snares so that any traces of human scent were masked. The traps were then set up along game trails avoiding any exposed or hazardous sites. Every 12-24 hours they were checked to reduce capture time, further reducing stress and injury. Once captured, the coyote was restrained and the immobilizing anesthetic, Telazol, was administered to keep them stationary. The animal was kept warm during the cleaning and stitching of injuries, recording of weight, fitting of eartags and radiocollars, blood collection and injection of antibiotics and an antiparasitic agent.
Zipkin, Elise F., Kraft, Clifford E., Cooch, Evan G., and Sullivan, Patrick J., “When Can Efforts to Control Nuisance and Invasive Species Backfire?,” Ecological Applications, Vol. 19, No. 6 (2009): 1585-1595, accessed October 11, 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40346271.
Their findings contributed to a further explanation of the definition of an invasive species. It was concluded that invasive species are detrimental to the environment that they are invading. Jackson (2015) mentioned that negative relationships among invaders are a particular concern since it is possible that both of the invasive species would need to be controlled in order for an area to rebound after invasion. Hoopes et al. (2013) concluded that native species on island refuges are more likely to be come extinct during an invasion compared to those of mainland refuges. These results also help to confirm the importance of understanding invasive species from a conservation point of view since invasive species are a major threat to native populations in their
The number of predators in the U.S. would increase drastically if the population wasn’t controlled by man. In the wild the coyote population has virtually no natural predators so they can raise their young without any worries that they will be killed. The International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies launched a study on the coyote populations and estimated that coyote populations in the southeast United States would grow by 210 percent if they weren’t hunted and killed by man.(Edmonds)
Throughout the course of evolution the cat’s ability to survive in the wild has become extremely dependent upon its hunting ability. In order for feral, or undomesticated, cats to survive on their own in the wild they have developed hereditary traits and instincts from their ancestors throughout time. Though these hereditary traits that they have inherited are helpful for undomesticated cats, they can often cause problems when domesticated house cats revert back to the ways of their ancestors, often influencing the ways that cats kept as pets are managed. Cats are carnivorous predators and pet owners must accommodate this lifestyle by feeding them a meat-based diet with high protein, providing them with a play outlet to avoid predatory aggression, as well as keeping them inside or monitoring their activities while outside to avoid the unnecessary killing of birds or any other type of animal.
Before current knowledge of mountain lion activity had been researched, it was commonly believed that mountain lions were ferocious killers which crept down from the mountains to indulge in midnight feasts on livestock and pets. Of course, the worst harbored fear was the possibility of losing children, family and friends to these wild predators. Besides the past 25 years, little concern was given to the condition of mountain lion populations in California and much of the western United States. Between 1916 and 1971, more than 12,000 mountain lions were killed for bounties and for sport in California (California Wildlife Protection Coalition, 1995).
In the world where people live in is an enormous responsibility but also the greatest gift that people need to cherish and protect. The human race needs to step up and voice not only their concerns, but the concerns of all the animals endangered or not. Any species which fall into the categories vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered are considered to be at risk of extinction. {Robert Redford} said “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security defense of our resource’s because it’s just as important as defense abroad otherwise what is there to defend?”
One of the big causes of extinction or the endangerment of species is foreign species entering a habitat. This species that are not native to the land can disrupt the food web in that community. These species take control of the food web and endanger some of the other species. The native species become endangered and over the course of many years they either adapt to their new way or life, the foreign predator leaves or is killed off due to the different environment, or the species is killed off and becomes extinct. Organizations like the “World Wild Li...
This provides a legal safety net to stop and slow down the loss of plant and animal species. They hold federal agencies and others accountable for complying with laws protecting rare/endangered animals using persuasion and cooperation. They recommend increased funding for private landowners and conservation programs that could benefit animals. They protect and restore habitats that were lost. NWF also reduces threats to wildlife that can lead to endangerment including loss of habitat and pollution. India is now halting tiger tourism to prevent extinction of the animals. About 1,411 of these animals live in the wild, and they are in danger of being “loved to death.” Experts fear these big cats will become extinct in only five years. Poaching is the main reason for many deaths, but tourism has also impacted the tigers. The tourist vehicles drive away the tigers prey and hotels have been built over passageways the tigers used to travel from one place to another. Alligators, Bald Eagles, Wolves, Grizzly Bears, and Whooping Cranes were all saved by the U.S Endangered Species Act (ESA). The WWF is addressing the major threats to Australia’s
Human beings, ever since its creation has never been alone on the earth. As we all know we share this planet with lots of different species of living creatures, such as animals, and plants. But even though we name ourselves the superior species due to our ability to think, make decisions and choose how we want to live our lives, we start to grow. Our growth ranges among many different aspects, such as infrastructure and lifestyle. This led to us somehow neglecting the fact that we are not alone in this planet. We start pushing other species out of the way, and we sometimes don’t realize that the impact felt by those other species has terrible and sometimes deadly consequences, and also we sometimes fail to understand that it can also cause harm to us.