Amami Rabbit woes
Hi all,
I was just watching NHK World Japan and they had an update on the Amami Rabbit. They said the numbers are around 200-300 and they are being preyed upon by about 200+ feral cats, surprise, surprise. They had a still photo of a cat dragging a dead rabbit along a road at night. They are in the process of catching the cats and neutering them and then adopting them out once they tame down. Unfortunately of the 150 caught so far only 45 have been adopted. Atleast they don’t neuter and then release them back into the wild like they do in this country. That doesn’t solve the problem, but we don’t seem to understand that and the Japanese do. They were also trying to get people to neuter their cats, but are having a problem with that evidently. If they don’t do more they will lose the international status the area has. I hope they succeed.
Andrew
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Leslie Sokolow
This reminds me of a recent article in the Smithsonian Magazine about the Key Largo Woodrat (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/save-woodrat-conservationists-deal-invasive-species-first-house-cats-180960445). Their problem is house cats (AKA subsidized predators) who enter the reserve for easy meals on endangered woodrats. USFW is considering shooting any house cat that strays in to the reserve, with ample warning to the surrounding neighborhoods, who have already been told to keep their cats inside.