Cats blamed for decline of marsupials_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Cats blamed for decline of marsupials

"First, the extinctions are occurring mainly in ground-dwelling animals of small body size which live in open, dry habitat. This points the finger of suspicion strongly at an introduced predator – the cat," he said.

"We have seen similar extinction patterns driven by predators like foxes in southern Australia, so the big question was: Is history repeating itself, or is it something new?"

He said the declines were in species eaten by cats, an animal believed to have been introduced with European settlement in the late 1700s.

"Where there are no cats, there have been no declines," he said.

He said because cats had been around for so long and the declines were more recent, the question was what had changed to make them such a damaging predator.

Johnson said the use of fire by cattle farmers seemed to have played a role, given there had been no significant land clearing or evidence of disease in northern Australia.

"It is probably no one thing, but the data point to a combination of several effects - all of which tend to favor the hunting style adopted by cats, which places small ground-dwelling animals at greater risk," he said.

About the broadcaster:

Lance Crayon is a videographer and editor with China Daily. Since living in Beijing he has worked for China Radio International (CRI) and Global Times. Before moving to China he worked in the film industry in Los Angeles as a talent agent and producer. He has a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Arlington.