Sydney cat curfew to protect wildlife
June 9, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CATS in several suburbs of Sydney will be ordered to curl up inside from dusk to dawn under a curfew that hopes to curb overnight attacks on native wildlife.
The move in the Leichhardt area, on the inner west side of Sydney, was inspired after deputy mayor Michele McKenzie's son rescued a brushtail possum and its baby when they were attacked by a cat.
There are also plans to reintroduce a colony of ringtail possums, which are much smaller in size, to the municipality, and McKenzie wants the animals to have the best possible chance at survival.
But the odds are stacked against the possums unless cats, which can climb trees to catch the animals, are stopped from prowling at night.
There have been some 564 reported cat attacks on ringtail possums in the last year alone, making up the biggest part of total cat attacks on wildlife, protection agency WIRES said.
"Its a small thing to ask people to keep their cats indoors if it means protecting our native wildlife." McKenzie said.
The move in the Leichhardt area, on the inner west side of Sydney, was inspired after deputy mayor Michele McKenzie's son rescued a brushtail possum and its baby when they were attacked by a cat.
There are also plans to reintroduce a colony of ringtail possums, which are much smaller in size, to the municipality, and McKenzie wants the animals to have the best possible chance at survival.
But the odds are stacked against the possums unless cats, which can climb trees to catch the animals, are stopped from prowling at night.
There have been some 564 reported cat attacks on ringtail possums in the last year alone, making up the biggest part of total cat attacks on wildlife, protection agency WIRES said.
"Its a small thing to ask people to keep their cats indoors if it means protecting our native wildlife." McKenzie said.
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