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| Night Parrot |
In an alarming development, an endangered Night Parrot in a small, recently discovered population of the endangered species in western Queensland has been killed by a feral cat. The finding of the remains of a cat-killed night parrot in an area of arid spinifex country south-west of Winton raises fresh questions about whether sufficient management practices are in place in the remote region to protect the Night Parrots.
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| 1850s specimen of Night Parrot |
According to Queensland Government sources, professional shooters have been hired by a private conservation company to patrol the area at night with spotlights, shooting feral cats on sight. The program is funded by a donation from mining company Fortescue Metals; the involvement of the company relates to the reported discovery of Night Parrots in a mineral exploration area in Western Australia in 2005.
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| Spinifex habitat north-east of Night Parrot site in western Queensland |
However, government agencies have been kept in the dark about the whereabouts of the Night Parrots in Queensland. The sites where the birds occur are on a privately leased grazing property. No moves have been made to offer the property for sale to governments, with private enterprise being the preferred option for management of the area. The Queensland Government is of course the primary agency charged with safeguarding endangered wildlife in the state, and has legal responsibilities to do so.
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| John Young |
The cat-killed parrot was found at a site close to where renowned bushman John Young photographed a Night Parrot for the first time in May 2013 in what has been hailed as the most significant natural history discovery of recent times, revealed by
The Australian newspaper. Since then, John Young and scientist Stephen Murphy have continued research in the region, finding the parrot at several other localities in the region. It is understood that John Young will give more details about the feral cat issue, including how the parrot evidently came to be killed, at a talk in Melbourne on March 1.
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| John Young's Night Parrot |
Feral cats are considered to be a key factor in the demise of this once widespread species, which has been recorded on just handful of occasions over the past century. In 1892, it was reported that "numerous" parrots had been killed by cats in the vicinity of the Old Telegraph Station near Alice Springs. Some observers have noted increases in feral cat populations following a succession of good seasons in parts of inland Australia. The region south-west of Winton where the parrots occur has been drought-afflicted for several years.
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| Feral Cat |
Not only the Night Parrot but the Bilby and other endangered desert mammals have somehow survived predation from feral cats and foxes to date in parts of south-west Queensland. The reasons for this are uncertain.
