Quote:

---

When invasive species go wild in Australia they really don't hold back. Check out this ridiculously massive feral cat caught in the Northern Territory's Arnhem Land — one of an alarming number of similar cats that are now decimating the local wildlife.

According to the Warddeken ranger group, the cats are getting progressively bigger and there are now upwards of "several thousand" of them in the area of central Arnhem Land. The group is trying to secure funding from the federal government to help them monitor and cull the animals.

Researchers from the National Environmental Research Program have also noticed an increase in feral cats over the last few years. Whenever a cat is caught, they perform a gut analysis — and the amount of animals inside each of them is "staggering."

---

Quote:

---

Australia to kill 2mn feral felines to protect native species
The Australian government has announced a new controversial five-year strategy to save threatened native species. It plans to cull two million feral cats, which are said to pose a threat to Australian wildlife.

“The feral cat will be listed as a harmful pest and hunted down through various methods,” said Greg Hunt, the Australian federal environment minister, while presenting the new strategy at a Melbourne zoo, International Business Times reports. “Culling methods will include baiting, shooting or poisoning,” he added.

Australia’s first threatened-species commissioner, Gregory Andrews, attempted to explain the government’s position on national radio. According to Andrews, “It is very important to emphasize that we don’t hate cats. We just can’t tolerate the damage that they’re doing anymore to our wildlife ... Over 120 Australian animals are at risk of extinction from feral cats. So the scientific evidence is crystal clear that they’re the biggest threat.”

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by second:
Australian folklore holds that some feral cats in Australia have grown so large as to cause inexperienced observers to claim sightings of other species such as puma etc. This folklore is being shown to be more fact than fiction, with the recent shooting of an enormous feline, in the Gippsland area of Victoria. Subsequent DNA test showed it to be a feral cat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_in_Australia#Feral_cats

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

---