Open Forum

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Hi Tuljun Friends,
Over recent months there have been inquiries concerning household pets. I know this is going to be the rough end of the pineapple for some. Your long-time friend and companions are a loved members of the family BUT...the rules are clear  **No household may keep more than 2 adult dogs.  If dogs are kept they must be properly managed otherwise they must be removed from the property.  Cats and exotic aquarium fish are prohibited outright. The reasoning for this may be clarified in the article below. We love our bush animals and unfortunately so do cats and dogs! I have in fact a large menagerie consisting of quoll, possum, koala, bandicoot, monitors and more than few birds and not a cage in sight. 

Bob.



-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Feral cats are killing 75 million animals every day!
Date:	Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:55:42 +1000
From:	Wildlife Queensland
Reply-To:	news@wildlife.org.au
To:	bob@tuljun.com

WHERE HAVE ALL THE CRITTERS GONE? Dear Friend of Wildlife, Can you remember the last time you saw a small or medium-sized native mammal of any species? You might have seen a possum but bandicoots, bilbies and small wallabies are getting harder and harder to find. Where have all the animals gone? Habitat loss has played a huge part in the massive decline of our wildlife but it continues overwhelmingly through predation, especially by feral cats and wild dogs. Feral cats are not fussy eaters and they can overpower and consume just about any living creature: mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects! The impact of feral cats is truly astronomical. We know there are at least 15 million feral cats in Australia and some estimates suggest there are as many as 23 million. That's one for every person in the country! Researchers have found that feral cats eat on average five animals a day. So 15 million feral cats are eating around 75 million animals each and every day, mostly at night. That potentially works out to be 20 billion animals, mainly native species, killed and eaten by feral cats every year. The sheer numbers of animals removed from the landscape by feral cats boggles the mind and many native species have been brought to the edge of extinction. As the new president of Wildlife Queensland, I have launched a special campaign to help one of the great, but tenuous, survivors - the bridled nailtail wallaby. The bridled nailtail wallaby can grow to one metre in length, half of which is tail, and males weigh between four and eight kilos. Females are even smaller than males. It sounds too large to become prey for a feral cat, but feral cats grow to between four and six kilos themselves and some have been known to reach 15 kilos. A feral cat can easily take a juvenile wallaby. Adults aren’t entirely off the menu either. Where once they were numbered in the millions, the total population of bridled nailtail wallabies in the wild today is estimated to be less than 400 mature individuals. They only live for six to eight years in the wild so if we don’t increase our efforts now, predators will eventually wipe out the remaining bridled nailtail wallabies and drive them to extinction. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service has been undertaking feral cat and wild dog control measures at Taunton National Park for years, yet such are the numbers of predators that if there are any interruptions to control programs wallaby numbers plummet. Feral cat numbers are so overwhelming and the problem is so large that the wallabies need extra help and a lot of it. Wildlife Queensland is now partnering with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service at Taunton National Park. Our Friends of Taunton group is supporting the conservation of the bridled nailtail wallaby and its habitat. This involves controlling feral cats, foxes and wild dogs that right now are killing bridled nailtail wallabies. The control of feral cats at the Taunton National Park is being done through trapping and euthanasing, shooting and laying baits. To some this may seem inhumane, yet to do nothing will lead to the extinction of the bridled nailtail wallaby and the ongoing deaths of thousands of other mammals, reptiles and birds each year. Can you help rescue the bridled nailtail wallaby from extinction with a special gift? Please, will you make a tax-deductible donation now, to bring them back from the brink? We’ve considered the problem and the solution carefully and know that in 2015 we’ll need $50,000 to secure the population of wallabies at Taunton National Park. There are around 200 endangered bridled nailtail wallabies in the park so we’re protecting one wallaby for each $250 raised. By supporting Wildlife Queensland with a donation to this special appeal you will be ensuring that Taunton National Park’s bridled nailtail wallaby population will bounce back. It’s known that the bridled nailtail wallaby will breed continuously when conditions are suitable and they can raise up to three young in a year. Numbers can grow rapidly once predators are controlled. To determine what can or can’t be achieved in 2015 I must confirm by 24 December the total of the funds we’ve raised and that’s why I need you to add your support to this special appeal today. I can imagine a future with an abundance of bridled nailtail wallabies at Taunton National Park. If you can too, please support this special appeal and help save a threatened species on the brink. Yours sincerely Peter Ogilvie President, Wildlife Queensland P.S. You can help prevent extinction in just two minutes by visiting the new webpage we’ve set up to help you save the bridled nailtail wallaby. You have received this email as a member or supporter of Wildlife Queensland, or as someone with an interest in wildlife conservation in Australia. If you do not wish to receive emails about our appeals, please unsubscribe. (07) 3221 0194 wpsq@wildlife.org.au www.wildlife.org.au

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