From beloved pet to biodiversity villain: what now for Australia's cats?

Our feline friends kill more than 300m native animals a year. Can we keep them and protect our wildlife too?Get our weekend culture and lifestyle emailBy day, Trevor Bauer is at war with cats. As part of his job with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, he works at large-scale properties in far western New South Wales that are designed to keep feral cats out. First, tall electric fences are erected around these properties. Once they're up, Bauer and his team use bait, traps and occasionally firearms to eradicate every feral cat inside. Then small native mammals such as the numbat, bilby and bettong - normally easy prey for cats - are reintroduced.By night, Bauer can be found cuddling with his pet cat, a tortoiseshell called Titian, on the couch. Continue reading...