Savannah cats are a cross between a domestic cat and the much larger African serval, bred in some countries for the designer pet industry. While domestic cats are usually around 4 kilograms, savannah cats can weigh up to 11 kilograms.

In 2008 a commercial pet breeder applied to import savannah cats to Australia, sparking a rapid government review and public consultation followed by amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

At the time, the Australian Government had limited information to assess the risks, but applied the precautionary principle. The new study, led by Professor Chris Dickman, published in the scientific journal Animals, presents a framework for making evidence-based assessments of risk, and demonstrates the very real and significant risk that savannah cats would have posed to Australian wildlife.

Professor Dickman said that Australia’s climate and environment is very suitable for savannah cats and, if they had escaped or been released, they could have free roamed across 97% of the country.

“This research assessed the impact that wild populations of savannah cats would have had on Australian mammals. Reptiles and birds would also have been affected,” said Professor Dickman.

“We assumed that savannah cats had similar ecology, diet and hunting behaviour as their parent species.

“We found that while domestic cats already prey on at least 151 species of native mammals in Australia, an additional 29 native mammal species would have come under threat from savannah cats, which can hunt prey twice the size.

“Mammal species that live in trees, in dense vegetation and in swampy areas would also have come under more pressure."