Feral cats overrun Riverina’s national parks and landscapes

An eye-opening study by leading environmental scientists this week revealed the pests now cover 99.8 per cent of the country’s land mass. 

While Tumut Shire has long been embroiled in a battle against the feral felines, several of the region’s towns have also been flagged as wild cat hot spots. 

Outskirts of Narrandera, Gundagai and West Wyalong have been identified as areas where feral cat populations are exploding. 

Wagga conservationist David Marr said the findings come as a renewed call to arms to exterminate the cats and protect native species. 

"If we want to reduce the impact of cats on endangered species we need to manage cat populations only in the places where those endangered species live," he said.

“They’re killing endangered native birds, bilbies, bandicoots and other marsupials.”

Meanwhile, Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews – who is spearheading the nation-wide cull of two million feral cats – said they are rapidly decimating the environment. 

"It's like the All Blacks versus my son's rugby team," he said.

"They are such vicious hunters and they can kill between four and 23 native species a night.”

Feral cats are collectively killing around 75 million native animals every night, according to the Department of Environment. 

Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount on pet owners to keep their cats indoors and prevent them from killing native wildlife. 

Ms Adams, president of the Best Friend animal rescue service in Wagga and environmental science lecturer, supports a 24 hour cat curfew as she believes it will benefit cats and native wildlife species.

"Being indoors is actually in the cat's best interest as they are likely to have a much longer life span because they aren't exposed to traffic or discarded rubbish," she said.

“They are also far less likely to be subjected to diseases such as feline AIDS.”