Indika
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2015
- Messages
- 3,327
- Reaction score
- -10
- Country
- Location
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...l-every-weasel-rat-and-feral-cat-on-its-soil/
By Karin Brulliard July 25 at 1:48 PM
Financial Times reported.
[Cat war breaks out in New Zealand]
This isn’t the first time New Zealanders have contemplated the idea of a full wipeout of introduced predators, which the government says kill 25 million native birds a year and spread diseases to cattle and deer. In 2012, it was championed by the late scientist Paul Callaghan, who said the concept could be New Zealand’s equivalent of the Apollo space program. But the idea was mostly viewed as fanciful.
Australia actually declares ‘war’ on cats, plans to kill 2 million by 2020]
“For the first time, technology is starting to make feasible what previously seemed like an unattainable dream,” Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said in a statement.
The funding might not be enough, however. A government research arm previously said the effort would take $20 billion, The Post’s Karla Adam reported.
Conspicuously missing from the government’s announcement were the invasive mammals whose fates have been at the center of most conservation debates in New Zealand: cats.
For as much as they love their birds, New Zealanders also are quite fond of cats. According to some estimates, the nation has more cat owners per capita than any other. The country’s conservation minister has proposed a household cat limit. In 2013, environmental activist Gareth Morgan suggested hunting down and killing every feral cat in New Zealand (a proposal that, Morgan told The Washington Post, elicited lots of hate mail from Americans.)
“Cats are the major sticking point to a pest-free New Zealand,” James Russell, an ecologist at the University of Auckland, told The Post.
Moonbeam Smokey Fluffy Key, a grayish feline whose “unconditional” love he has praised in Parliament.
And so it was little surprising that Key, when asked by reporters about cats’ place in the Predator Free plan, said house cats — emphasis on house — would be spared. Roaming cats, on the other hand, are on the hit list.
“If you’re asking about Moonbeam, Moonbeam is safe,” Key said. “If you’re asking about feral cats … then their time is limited.”
“In terms of the domestic moggy,” he added, using a Britishism for house cat, “they have plenty of years in front of the fire at home.”
Read more:
So it has come to this: An app that finds someone to pick up your dog’s poop
By Karin Brulliard July 25 at 1:48 PM
Financial Times reported.
[Cat war breaks out in New Zealand]
This isn’t the first time New Zealanders have contemplated the idea of a full wipeout of introduced predators, which the government says kill 25 million native birds a year and spread diseases to cattle and deer. In 2012, it was championed by the late scientist Paul Callaghan, who said the concept could be New Zealand’s equivalent of the Apollo space program. But the idea was mostly viewed as fanciful.
Australia actually declares ‘war’ on cats, plans to kill 2 million by 2020]
“For the first time, technology is starting to make feasible what previously seemed like an unattainable dream,” Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said in a statement.
The funding might not be enough, however. A government research arm previously said the effort would take $20 billion, The Post’s Karla Adam reported.
Conspicuously missing from the government’s announcement were the invasive mammals whose fates have been at the center of most conservation debates in New Zealand: cats.
For as much as they love their birds, New Zealanders also are quite fond of cats. According to some estimates, the nation has more cat owners per capita than any other. The country’s conservation minister has proposed a household cat limit. In 2013, environmental activist Gareth Morgan suggested hunting down and killing every feral cat in New Zealand (a proposal that, Morgan told The Washington Post, elicited lots of hate mail from Americans.)
“Cats are the major sticking point to a pest-free New Zealand,” James Russell, an ecologist at the University of Auckland, told The Post.
Moonbeam Smokey Fluffy Key, a grayish feline whose “unconditional” love he has praised in Parliament.
And so it was little surprising that Key, when asked by reporters about cats’ place in the Predator Free plan, said house cats — emphasis on house — would be spared. Roaming cats, on the other hand, are on the hit list.
“If you’re asking about Moonbeam, Moonbeam is safe,” Key said. “If you’re asking about feral cats … then their time is limited.”
“In terms of the domestic moggy,” he added, using a Britishism for house cat, “they have plenty of years in front of the fire at home.”
Read more:
So it has come to this: An app that finds someone to pick up your dog’s poop
