Wildlife Queensland applauded federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett for his decision to ban the import of savannah cats into Australia.
A fifth-generation hybrid of serval cat and domestic cats, savannah cats were reputed to weigh more than a domestic cat, jump at least 2m and bear a physical and behavioural similarity to the serval, native to the savannahs of Africa.

The federal government found that the hybrid species posed an extreme risk to Australia’s native wildlife. Minister Garrett amended the live import list under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, to change the definition of domestic cats by ruling out those with the genes of the serval cat. This will prevent any future importation of these hybrids.

WPSQ in action

Wildlife Queensland made a submission to the federal government requesting the permanent ban on savannah cats on the grounds that it represented an unacceptable risk to Australia’s biodiversity.

Wildlife Queensland members were extremely active in making their views against importation known to WPSQ Head Office.

Read more about savannah cats

For more information on Wildlife Queensland's activities, call us on +61 7 3221 0194 or send us an email.