News Monday, 28 April 2025

Cats wreaking havoc on native wildlife: Call for policy reforms

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Updated 28 Apr 2025

Feral cat in outback Queensland, Australia. Shutterstock | Copyright (c) 2018 John Carnemolla/Shutterstock. No use without permission.

SASWATI MUKHERJEE

BY this time tomorrow, over 5 million native mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs stand to be killed by the millions of feral and roaming pet cats in Australia.

Cats, both feral and roaming pets are the biggest drivers of native species extinction in Australia. If experts are to be believed, they have sent at least 25 species to extinction since colonisation.

Parramatta has 11,232 registered cats and each year 683,683 native animals killed by registered roaming cats. In total there are 29,612 total cats in Parramatta and 1,803,912 total native animals killed by them.

“Every year about 66 million native mammals, frogs, reptiles and birds are killed by roaming pet cats just in Greater Sydney. We need a cultural change to stop this and that starts with empowering councils to bring in clear cat containment rules,” says Jack Gough, the Interim CEO at Invasive Species Council.

The Invasive Species Council is an organization that looks at protecting native Australian biodiversity by recommending stronger laws, policies, and programs to tackle invasive species.

Significantly, while almost every state and territory in Australia empowers local councils to implement rules for cat containment, NSW seems to have not adopted the same policy.

“Unfortunately, 70% of cat owners in Sydney and around Australia let their cats roam and the nature of cats is they are really effective killers,” says Gough. Nationally, more than 300 million native animals are killed every year, often due to irresponsible pet ownership.

Notably, many pet cats in NSW are unregistered. In the urban areas, the majority are roaming pet cats, with very high densities. Feral cats are less of a concern in urban areas with the number of pet cats being on the higher side of the spectrum.

Submissions to the NSW feral cat inquiry closed recently, with the Invasive Species Council urgently calling on the NSW state government to urgently update the outdated 1998 Companion Animal Act, and in turn make it mandatory for local councils to implement cat containment rules.

The Invasive Species Council is urging the government to follow the lead of Victoria in allowing local councils to introduce cat containment laws and requiring each council to develop a companion management plan.

Owner’s guide

Owning a pet cat should come with clear responsibilities to ensure your pet is not roaming around killing the country’s native birds, mammals, reptiles and frogs.

“A cat kept safely at home will live a longer life, pick up less diseases and is less likely to get injured in car accidents, dog attacks or cat fights, and they have far fewer vet bills,” says Gough.

This inquiry brings with it a real opportunity to get serious about protecting the native wildlife from one of the biggest drivers of extinction in this country.

The Invasive Species Council also recommended that the state government boost funding for responsible pet ownership initiatives like subsidised desexing and community education.