By MELISSA MEEHAN
A TWO kilometre feline exclusion zone has been suggested by residents trying to protect lyrebirds in the national park in Sherbrooke.
Concerned resident Roger Willsher from The Patch contacted the Mail this week, after reading about a number of attacks on the birds since the beginning of the year.
“I’ve been trying to convince the shire and council that an exclusion zone for new cats is the best way to deal with the problem,” Mr Willsher said.
“We can’t tell the residents that their cats aren’t allowed that are already living there, but they should be reigstered, neutered and kept in an enclosed area.
“The idea is that the residents can bring no new cats to the area.”
Mr Willsher said that the idea had been tried and successful in Denham, Western Australia, and that there was no reason the same rules couldn’t apply here.
“They had issues with cats attacking the bilbys,” he said.
“But it is the same idea.”
Mr Willsher said the new rules would mean residents could keep their cats but not be allowed to replace them when they eventually passed away.
“But these cats would need to be desexed and contained on their properties,” he said.
“Most cat owners are responsible but it’s the few who aren’t that make these rules a necessity.”
He said lyrebirds had relatively long breeding cycles and only lay one egg every 15-18 months.
“Against these cats, the lyrebird population doesn’t have a chance,” he said.
“I think that it should be stipulated in a Section 32, if a house were to be sold that it was a cat free area.”
He said while cats were a large problem, people walking their dogs through the park were also causing problems for the ecosystem of the park.
“They leave a scent behind which frightens the wallabies off,” he said.
“Then the wallabies don’t feed on the grass, which mean the lyrebirds aren’t able to get through the grass to scratch for their own feed.”
Yarra Ranges Council is currently consulting with the community about its cat curfew and off lead local laws.
Those who want to have their say are urged to go to www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Council/Public_Notices_Consultation/Have_Your_Say_-_Cats_Dogs.
