Researchers say pet cats wrongly blamed for injuring native wildlife

A new study has found pet cats were responsible for fewer than 1 per cent of native animals taken to NSW wildlife carers over an 11-year period.

The study, done by University of Queensland (UQ) researchers in collaboration with the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation, has sparked renewed debate about the risk the popular pets pose to threatened wildlife.

It analysed NSW wildlife rescue and rehabilitation data on 158 threatened and endangered native species between 2013 and 2024.

There were 52,475 threatened animals taken to wildlife carers during that period, with 311 incidents attributed to cat attacks.

That amounts to 0.6 per cent of cases.

Lead researcher and wildlife ecologist, Kate Dutton-Regester from the UQ School of Veterinary Science, said it was important to make a distinction between domestic and feral animals.

"They behave very differently, and we have been using data obtained from our feral cats on our urban cats," Dr Dutton-Regester said.

"I think [we have been] making some extrapolations that aren't really true to the behaviour of our domestic cats.

"Not all cats are outside, not all cats hunt … it's a contentious issue."

Dr Dutton-Regester said dog attacks accounted for three times as many rescues as domestic cat attacks.

"Maybe a lot of the animals attacked by cats don't survive or make it into the hospital," she said.

"But we can say the same for car strikes, disease, any other causes.

"Perhaps we should shift to focusing on those high-impact causes."

'Predation toll is massive'

According to the Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Australian feral cats kill more than 3 billion animals a year.

Roaming pet cats are estimated to kill 390 million animals a year, with cats considered a leading cause of extinction for 34 Australian mammals.

Professor Sarah Legge, from Charles Darwin University's Faculty of Science and Technology, said examining rescue and rehabilitation data could not adequately determine the effect of pets on wildlife.

"A much better way to detect if cats are having an impact on wildlife would be to radio-track pet cats and examine what's in their gut content, which gives you a much less biased sample of what cats are eating every day," she said.

"Although, any one cat might be eating less or killing less than a feral cat, when you look at the whole cat population, the predation toll is massive.

"It actually exceeds what's happening out in the bush."

Professor Legge said many owners were unaware of what their cats got up to.

She said pet cats could roam large distances overnight.

A study by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub found pet cats brought only 15 per cent of wildlife catches home.

Mandated cat containment

Professor Legge said mandated cat containment was needed to help prevent wildlife deaths.

But report co-author and executive director of the Australian Pet Welfare Foundation, Jacquie Rand, said while she supported voluntary cat containment, mandates would be ineffective and "almost impossible to enforce".

"Mandated containment will not protect wildlife," Dr Rand said.

"What's been shown now repeatedly in NSW, Victoria and Queensland is that high-intensity desexing programs in those low socio-economic areas do reduce those free-roaming cats."

The chief executive of Wildlife Recovery Australia, Stephen Van Mil, said the UQ findings mirrored data collected at their Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital.

He said most cat owners were doing the right thing by keeping their pets inside overnight.

"I think it's unfair to blame the cats … we all need to be responsible,"

Dr Rand said.

The Australian Pet Welfare Foundation, which was involved in the UQ research, said it was strongly opposed to mandated cat confinement.

Call for greater human-impact measures

The UQ study found entanglement, drought, abandonment, environmental factors and vehicle strikes were among the most common causes for rescue.

Flying Foxes were the most rescued animals, with koalas the second due to disease and vehicle strikes, followed by squirrel gliders, which often became trapped in fruit netting or fencing.

Dr Rand said the research could help inform government decision-making on threatened species, like promoting wildlife-safe netting on farms and improving road safety.

"It's important to focus on where we can have the biggest impact … I think you always want to try education and support first,"

she said.

"There's really quite a lot of evidence about reducing wildlife mortality on roads and about using fencing that is strategically placed in hotspots and providing crossings as well."