Economic impacts: Feral cats have no obvious
positive economic value. The cost of feral cats due to
management and research has been estimated at $2
million per year. The loss inflicted by feral and domestic
cats, based on bird predation alone, has been estimated
at $144 million annually6.
Environmental impacts: Feral cats are
exceptional hunters and pose a significant threat to the
survival of many native species including small mammals,
birds and reptiles. Feral cats have been implicated in
extinctions of Australian native animals and have added
to the failure of endangered species reintroduction
programs (eg numbat, bilby). About 80 endangered and
threatened species are at risk from feral cat predation in
Australia according to Australia’s Environment Protection
& Biodiversity Conservation