Cats in Australia

Across the world, cats are loved as pets or are kept or tolerated for their role in controlling some animal pests. But cats, both pets and feral, also kill many native animals and this toll can be enormous. Cats have been remarkably successful in Australia, spreading pervasively across the continent and many islands, occurring in all environments, and proving to be adept and adaptable hunters. A large proportion of Australia’s distinctive fauna is threatened and recent research highlights the significant role that cats play in the decline and extinction of native species. Cats in Australia brings this research together, documenting the extent to which cats havesubverted--and are continuing to subvert--Australia’s biodiversity. But thebook does much more than spotlight the impacts of cats on Australian nature. Itdescribes the origins of cats and their global spread, their long-standing andvarying relationship with people, their global impacts and their ecology. Italso seeks to describe the challenge of managing cats, and the optionsavailable to constrain their impacts.