DNA points the finger at feral cats after translocation failures
From Cosmos (13/2/25)…
DNA points the finger at feral cats after translocation failures
Feral cats have been implicated in the deaths of reintroduced native mammals at two conservation sites in South Australia.
Such predation can often mean failure for translocation programmes, say lead author, Dr Ned Ryan-Schofield of the University of Adelaide.
Feral cats, house cats gone wild, kill an estimated 815 million animals each year throughout the Australian bush, 56% (456 million) of which are native species.
These are underestimates because they don’t include animals killed but not eaten by cats or those that are maimed, then escape and die later of their wounds, says Professor John Woinarski, Professor of Terrestrial Ecology at Charles Darwin University.
Working out exactly what caused a death can difficult out in the bush, says coauthor Professor Katherine Moseby, of UNSW, who led Adelaide University and UNSW researchers to ask what else field data could reveal about the extent of cat predation. The results are in Australian Mammalogyfrom CSIRO Publishing.
“In past releases, we’d be radio tracking animals after release, and if we found dead animals, it would be difficult to determine what caused their death. We would use field evidence like animal spoor, carcass remains, or bite marks on collars to guess whether it was feral cats, birds of prey, fox, or if they just died a natural death.
“And because we’re working in really remote areas, it is difficult to access vets for necropsy. So taking a DNA swab of the dead animal was a really good way to identify if predation was the cause of …
Feral cat, Felis catus, in trap, Wiluna, Western Australia (Photo by: Auscape/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
