Thermal tech to protect bilbies and night parrots from feral cats

March 24, 2025 1:36 AM

Thermal tech to protect bilbies and night parrots from feral cats. Cameras, bioacoustic recorders and thermal scopes are being placed in Queensland's Channel Country in a bid to bring the relentless hunters under control.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (2 comments total)

I love cats so much...but they are so very destructive in environments like Australia and New Zealand. I am sad for the cats but glad for the other creatures.
posted by rednikki at 6:42 AM on March 24 [3 favorites]

Good on them. I design planting, often at scale - a few Hectares to many Ha and across all the pests cats are probably the most destructive animal, and the one animal most likely to make a planting long-term non-viable by taking out birds, lizards and some insects - and thru. their faeces putting toxoplasmosis into waters.

I have never owned a cat and cats treat my property very warily, I spend hours watching birds enjoy their landscape - Save for two species of bat NZ has no native mammals (main other pests here are mustelids, hares, rabbits, rats, mice, .au possums, thar, about 7 deer species, hedgehogs, pigs, goats, wallabies).
posted by unearthed at 9:05 AM on March 24