Happy to wrong, but that site seems to take 2 separate facts:
1 - that some scientists think there may be 100,000,000 species on earth
2 - some scientists think the extinction rate is 1%
and then logic-ing a number of extinctions per year.
And then capping it off by saying, “but who can say who is right or wrong”.
My source ( 's members are state and territory wildlife agencies and the CSIRO, so I think its probably reasonable) make far fewer bones about it:
Globally, cats are considered to have contributed to the extinction of at least two reptile, 40 bird and 21 mammal species – over one quarter (26%) of the total extinctions of these groups since the year 1600.
Which is a fair bit like saying 1 quarter of animal extinctions in recorded history.
However I think this is the actual stat I was thinking of when i joked:
In Australia, at least 34 mammal species have become extinct since European settlement – a rate of mammal extinctions far greater than anywhere else in the world. Cats have been primary contributors to over two-thirds of these extinctions.
However you slice it, cats aren’t great for biodiversity, in Australia - which is really the point I was jokingly trying to make. I don’t really care people have cats. I’d just like to see the gradual eradication of them from Australia. Cats that is. Not necessarily cat owners.
It’s really not. Cats are ridiculously capable predators and absolutely can decimate animals in this country. Saying a quarter of extinctions is more than hyperbolic though.
Edit: I was typing this edit as you replied. But do your usual thing where you build a straw-man for what I say.
Those are their target prey groups. There has been a lot of extinctions outside those groups - mostly caused by us. Anyway - being a pedant. Cats certainly can be brutal on wildlife.
It’s a catch 22. I don’t like the idea of “indoor only” pets. It’s seems cruel. They don’t belong here for sure.
I’m not quite as anti cat as everyone’s favourite landlord on this topic, but it’s far more than a fantasy to say domestic cats account for a significant number of extinctions, especially on this continent where species didn’t co-evolve with anything similar.
Can you find a source for your claim of 900 species vs 1200 anually? The AWC suggests much smaller numbers:
Australia has the worst mammal extinction record in the world.
Twenty two mammals have become extinct in the last 200 years.
This represents around one third of the planet’s mammal extinctions
in that period. Our mammal extinction crisis is ongoing: around 20%
of surviving mammal species are listed under federal legislation as
being at risk of extinction.
All but one of the mammal extinctions in Australia have occurred
in the arid or semi-arid zone. Almost all of the remaining small-
medium sized mammal species in this zone have suffered massive
range contractions and/or a catastrophic drop in population size.
The Numbat, for example, has now disappeared from more than
90% of its original range.
The impact has been particularly severe in the wheatbelt region
of south-western Australia – where Mt Gibson is located – which
has lost 55% of its original mammal fauna. There are few areas
on the planet that have lost such a high proportion of their original
mammal species. In this region, and elsewhere across southern
and central Australia, the factors propelling the wave of extinctions
are feral predators (foxes and cats), feral herbivores (such as
rabbits and goats) and habitat destruction.
We have a bunch of cats that are indoor only.
They are happy as, they spend their days sleeping on the floor, sleeping on a bed or sleeping on a lounge.
None of them have ever wanted to go outside, they pretend they want to hunt the birds outside the window.
This a decent representation. But apparently there can be up to 3 million feral cats just in Australia. It’s also an under estimation as to the damage cats do as youre currently only looking at extinctions. We’re not taking into account animals on the endangered lists. Stil It’s a big proportion. The affects will generally be worse here as we dont really have any cat like natural predators native to Australia
Places like many new suburbs in Canberra mandated it that you can’t have outside cats unless they’re in a run. Which I think is a decent way of doing it. It’s not the cats fault normally, it’s just doing what they are designed to do, be cute and kill everything. It’s normally humans who put them there somehow.
No one with an ounce of knowledge can argue that cats aren’t a serious threat to australian widlife. The only argument that I’d lesten to is that your cat is an indiscriminate, rutheless killer and you just dont give a fuck.
At least I can say that in 3 years of having my cat, he has never killed one animal, annoyed one person, or damaged any property.
Some cats can be very lovely and personable, relaxed and chilled out. They certainly seem to have more of a chance of being so than any fuckwit landlord could ever be.
