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AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key

2007-04-25T04:59:50Z

61.68.226.45: /* Traditional Aboriginal use */

[[Image:Alice_Springs4260.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Alice Springs Desert Park, Bush Tucker]]
The word '''Bushfood''' refers to any food native to [[Australia]] and used as sustenance by the original inhabitants, the Australian Aborigines, although it is sometimes used with the specific connotation of "food found in the [[Outback]] while living on the land". It is also called '''bush tucker'''. It includes both animal and plant foods native to Australia.

Examples of Australian native animal foods (meats) include [[kangaroo]], [[emu]] and [[crocodile]]. In particular, kangaroo is quite common and can be found in many normal supermarkets at prices comparable to beef. Other animals, for example [[goanna]] and [[witchetty grub]]s, were eaten by [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] Australians and thus qualify as bushfood in every sense of the word. [[Fish]] and [[shellfish]] are culinary features of the Australian coastal communities.

Examples of Australian native plant foods include the fruits: [[quandong]] (''Santalum acuminatum''), [[bush tomato|Australian desert raisin]] (''Solanum centrale''), [[muntries]] (''Kunzea pomifera''), [[riberry]] (''Syzygium luehmannii''), Davidson's plum (''[[Davidsonia]]'' spp.), and, [[Finger Lime]] (''Citrus australasica''). Native spices include [[lemon myrtle]] (''Backhousia citriodora''), mountain pepper (''Tasmannia lanceolata''), and, [[aniseed myrtle]] (''Syzygium anisatum''). A popular leafy vegetable is [[warrigal greens]] (''Tetragonia tetragonoides'').

Nuts include [[bunya nut]] (''Araucaria bidwillii''), and the most identifiable bushfood plant harvested and sold in large scale commercial quantities is the [[macadamia]] nut (''Macadamia integrifolia'').

Knowledge of Aboriginal uses of [[fungi]] is meagre but ''[[Fistulina hepatica]]'' and Native bread ''([[Laccocephalum mylittiae]])'' were certainly eaten.

==Traditional Aboriginal use==

[[Australian Aborigines]] have eaten native animal and plant foods for an estimated 60,000 years of human habitation on the Australian continent (''see [[Indigenous Australian food groups]], [[Australian Aboriginal sweet foods]])''.

Various traditional methods of processing and cooking are used. Toxic seeds, such as [[Cycad]] (''Cycas media'') and Moreton Bay Chestnut (''Castanospermum australe'') are processed to remove the toxins and render them safe to eat. Many foods are also baked in the hot campfire coals, or baked for several hours in ground ovens. ‘[[Paperbark]]’, the bark of ''Melalauca'' species, is widely used for wrapping food placed in ground ovens. [[Bush bread]] was made by women using many types of seeds, nuts and corms to process a flour or dough to make bread.

Aboriginal traditional native food use has been severely impacted by non-indigenous immigration, especially in the more densely colonised areas of south-eastern Australia since 1788. There, loss of traditional lands has resulted in reduced access to native foods by Aborigines. This impact on traditional foods has been further accentuated by the destruction of native habitat for agriculture, and the introduction of non-native foods to Aborigines by colonists.

The recent recognition of the nutritional and gourmet value of native foods by non-indigenous Australians is introducing native cuisine to white Australians, many for the first time. However, there are unresolved intellectual property issues associated with the commercialisation of bushfood.

==Colonial use==

Bushfoods provided a source of nutrition to the non-indigenous colonial settlers, often supplementing meager rations. However, bushfoods were often considered to be inferior by colonists unfamiliar with the new land's food ingredients, generally preferring familiar foods from the homeland.

The only Australian native food developed and cropped on a large scale is the [[macadamia nut]], with the first small-scale commercial plantation being planted in Australia in the 1880s. Subsequently, [[Hawaii]] was where the macadamia was commercially developed to its greatest extent from stock imported from Australia.

==Modern use==

In the 1970s non-indigenous Australians began to recognise the previously over-looked indigenous aspects of Australia, including native foods. Textbooks like ''Wildfoods In Australia'' by the botanist couple, Cribb & Cribb were popular and later the author [[Tim Low]] published ''Wild Food Plants of Australia''. Jenifer Isaacs wrote the book ''Bushfood'', and [[Vic Cherikoff]] wrote ''The Bushfood Handbook''.

TV shows also made use of the bushfood theme. [[Malcolm Douglas]] was one of the first presenters to show how to 'live off the land' in the Australian Outback. Major [[Les Hiddins]], a retired [[Australian Army]] soldier popularized the idea of bush tucker as an interesting food resource. He presented a hit TV series called ''Bush Tucker Man'' on the [[Australian Broadcasting Commission|ABC]] TV network in the late 1980s. In the series, Hiddins demonstrated his research for Norforce in identifying foods which might sustain or augment army forces in the northern Australian Outback. In 1983, the University of Sydney's Human Nutrition Unit, headed by [[Jennie Brand-Miller]], also undertook a nutritional analysis programme analyzing bushfood for Aboriginal health.

In the late 1970's regionally based horticulturists started to assess local native food-plants for commercial use. In the mid-1980s several Sydney restaurants began using native Australian ingredients in recipes more familiar to modern tastes. This provided the first opportunity for bushfoods to be tried by non-indigenous Australians on a serious [[gourmet]] level, and led to the realisation that many strongly flavoured bushfoods have [[spice]]-like qualities. This led to the establishment of a specialist bushfood supply chain. Some of these bushfood ingredients now feature in modern Australian cuisine, and [[Australian spices]] are being increasingly recognised internationally (see [[bushfood industry history]]).

Value-added bushfood products were also developed for the domestic and export markets. The raw ingredients were initially sourced from the wild and more recently cultivated using largely organic methods with an emphasis on maintaining sustainable quantities from both sources. Many Aboriginal communities continue to be involved in the supply chain and in investigating other socially and culturally appropriate opportunities.

The term "bushfood" is one of several terms describing native Australian food, evolving from the older-style "bushtucker" which was used in the 1970s and 1980s. The word "bushfood" was chosen to reflect the sustainable nature of the industry's products, and to help exporters with product branding. The term "authentic Australian food" is another marketing term recently coined to create further separation from the more rustic bush connotations, although "bushfood" is the most established and widespread term that describes native Australian food.

==Native Australian food-plants listed by culinary province and plant part==

Australian bushfood plants can be divided into several distinct and large regional culinary provinces. Please note, some species listed grow across several climatic boundaries.

===Top-end===
Monsoonal zone of the Northern Territory, Cape York and Western Australia.

====Fruits====
{|
|''Buchanania arborescens''||Little Gooseberry Tree
|-
|''Citrus gracilis''||Kakadu Lime
|-
|''Eugenia carissoides''||Cedar Bay Cherry
|-
|''Ficus racemosa''||Cluster Fig
|-
|''Manilkara kaukii''||Wongi
|-
|''Melastoma affine''||Blue Tongue
|-
|''Mimusops elengi''||Tanjong
|-
|''Morinda citrifolia''||[[Noni]]
|-
|''Physalis minima''||Native Gooseberry
|-
|''[[Terminalia ferdinandiana]]''||Kakadu Plum
|-
|''Syzygium suborbiculare''||Lady Apple
|}

====Vegetables====

{|
|''Cycas media''||Cycad palm seeds (Require detoxification: see [[Bush bread]] )
|-
|''Dioscorea alata''|| Chinese or winged yam ''Dioscorea transversa''||Pencil Yam, Long Yam
|-
|''Dioscorea bulbifera''||Round Yam
|-
|''Eleocharis'' sp.||Mat-Rush, a traditional staple for [[Yolngu]]
|-
|''Ipomoea aquatica''||Native Kang Kong
|-
|''Lotus nelumbo''||[[Lotus]]
|-
|''Nelumbo nucifera''||[[Nelumbo|water lily]]
|-
|''Nymphaea macrosperma''||[[Nymphaea|water lily]]
|}

====Nuts====
{|
|''Semecarpus australiensis''||Australian Cashew Nut
|-
|''Terminalia catappa''||Sea Almond
|}

====Spices====

{|
|''[[Eucalyptus staigeriana]]''||Lemon Ironbark
|-
|''Melaleuca leucadendron''||Weeping Paperbark
|-
|''Ocimum tenuiflorum''||Native Basil
|}

===Central Australia===
Arid and semi-arid zones of the low rainfall interior.

====Fruits====
{|
|''Capparis'' spp.||Native Caper, [[Caperbush]]
|-
|''[[Capparis mitchelii]]''||Wild orange
|-
|''Capparis spinosa ssp. nummularia''||[[Wild passionfruit]]
|-
|''[[Carissa lanceolata]]''||Bush plum, Conkerberry
|-
|''Citrus glauca''||[[Desert Lime]]
|-
|''Enchylaena tormentosa''||Ruby Saltbush
|-
|''Ficus platypoda''||Desert Fig
|-
|''Marsdenia australis''||[[Doubah]], [[Bush Banana]]
|-
|''Owenia acidula''||Emu Apple
|-
|''[[Santalum acuminatum]]''||Desert Quandong
|-
|''[[Santalum lanceolatum]]''||Northern Sandalwood
|-
|''[[Solanum centrale]]''||Akudjura, Australian Desert Raisin, Bush tomato
|-
|''[[Solanum cleistogarnum]]''||[[Bush tomato]]
|-
|''[[Solanum ellipticum]]''||[[Bush tomato]]
|}

====Vegetables====

{|
|''Calandrinia balonensis''||Parakeelya
|-
|''[[Ipomoea costata]]''||Bush potato
|-
|''Vigna lanceolata''||[[Pencil Yam]]
|-
|''Lepidium'' spp.||Peppercresses
|-
|''Portulaca intraterranea''||Large Pigweed
|}

====Spices====

{|
|''[[Eucalyptus polybractea]]''||Blue-leaved Mallee
|}

====Seeds====

{|
|''Acacia aneura''||[[Mulga]]
|-
|''Acacia colei''||
|-
|''Acacia coriacea''||Dogwood
|-
|''Acacia holosericea''||Strap Wattle
|-
|''Acacia kempeana''||Witchetty Bush
|-
|''Acacia murrayana''||
|-
|''Acacia pycantha''||
|-
|''Acacia retinodes''||
|-
|''[[Acacia tetragonophylla]]''||Dead finish seed
|-
|''[[Acacia victoriae]]''||Gundabluey, Prickly wattle
|-
|''Brachychiton populneus''||[[Kurrajong]]
|-
|''Panicum decompositum''||native millet
|-
|''[[Portulaca oleracea]]''||Pigweed
|-
|''[[Triodia spp. ]]''||commonly known as spinifex
|}

====Insects in gall====

[[Bush coconut]]

[[Mulga apple]]

===Eastern Australia===
Subtropical rainforests of New South Wales to the wet tropics of Northern Queensland.

====Fruit====

{|
|''Acronychia acidula''||[[Lemon Aspen]]
|-
|''Acronychia oblongifolia''||White Aspen
|-
|''Antidesma bunius''||Herbet River Cherry
|-
|''Archirhodomyrtus beckleri''||Rose Myrtle
|-
|''Austromyrtus dulcis''||Midyim
|-
|''Carpobrotus glaucescens''||Pigface
|-
|''Citrus australasica''||[[Finger Lime]]
|-
|''Citrus australis''||Dooja
|-
|''[[Davidsonia jerseyana]]''||New South Wales Davidson's Plum
|-
|''Davidsonia johnsonii''||Smooth Davidsonia
|-
|''Davidsonia pruriens''||North Queensland Davidson's Plum
|-
|''Diploglottis campbellii''||Small-leaf Tamarind
|-
|''[[Eupomatia laurina]]''||Bolwarra
|-
|''Ficus coronata''||Sandpaper Fig
|-
|''Melodorum leichhardtii''||Zig Zag Vine
|-
|''Pleiogynium timorense''||Burdekin Plum
|-
|''[[Podocarpus elatus]]''||Illawarra Plum
|-
|''Planchonella australis''||Black Apple
|-
|''Rubus hillii''||Broad-leaf Bramble
|-
|''Rubus probus''||Atherton Raspberry
|-
|''Rubus rosifolius''||Rose-leaf Bramble
|-
|''Sambucus australasica''||Yellow Elderberry
|-
|''Syzygium fibrosum''||Fibrous Satinash
|-
|''Syzygium luehmannii''||[[Riberry]]
|-
|''Ximenia americana''||Yellow Plum
|}

====Vegetable====

{|
|''Geitonoplesium cymosum''||Scrambling Lily
|-
|''[[Tetragonia tetragonoides]]''||Warrigal Greens
|-
|''Trachymene incisa''||Wild Parsnip
|}

====Spices====

{|
|''Alpinia coerulea''||Native Ginger
|-
|''Backhousia citriodora''||[[Lemon Myrtle]]
|-
|''Backhousia myrtifolia''||[[Cinnamon Myrtle]]
|-
|''[[Prostanthera incisa]]''||Cut-leaf Mintbush
|-
|''Syzygium anisatum''||[[aniseed myrtle]]
|-
|''Tasmannia stipitata''||Dorrigo pepper (leaf and pepperberry)
|}

====Nut====

{|
|''[[Araucaria bidwillii]]''||Bunya Nut
|-
|''Athertonia diversifolius''||Atherton Almond
|-
|''Macadamia integrifolia''||[[Macadamia]] Nut
|-
|''Macadamia tetraphylla''||Bush Nut
|-
|''[[Sterculia quadrifida]]''||Peanut Tree
|}

===Temperate===
Warm and cool temperate zones of southern Australia, including Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and the highlands of New South Wales.

====Fruit====
{|
|''Acrotriche depressa''||Native Currant
|-
|''Billarderia cymosa''||Sweet Apple-berry
|-
|''Billarderia longiflora''||Purple Apple-berry
|-
|''Billarderia scandens''||Common Apple-berry
|-
|''Carpobrotus rossii''||Karkalla
|-
|''Eustrephus latifolius''||Wombat berry
|-
|''Exocarpus cupressiformis''||Native Cherry
|-
|''Gaultheria hispida''||Snow Berry
|-
|''[[Kunzea pomifera]]''||[[Muntries]]
|-
|''Rubus parvifolius''|| Pink-flowered Native Raspberry
|-
|''Sambucus gaudichaudiana''|| White Elderberry
|}

====Seed====
{|
|''Acacia longifolia''|| Golden Rods
|-
|''Acacia sophorae''|| Coast Wattle
|}

====Spice====

{|
|''[[Eucalyptus dives]]''|| Peppermint Gum
|-
|''[[Eucalyptus olida]]''|| Strawberry Gum
|-
|''[[Eucalyptus globulus]]''|| Tasmanian Blue Gum
|-
|''Mentha australis''|| River Mint
|-
|''[[Prostanthera rotundifolia]]''|| Native Thyme
|-
|''[[Tasmannia lanceolata]]''|| Mountain pepper
|-
|''Tasmannia stipitata''|| [[Dorrigo Pepper]]
|-
|''Tasmannia xerophila''|| Alpine Pepper
|}

====Vegetable====

{|
|''Apium insulare''|| Flinders Island Celery
|-
|''Atriplex cinerea''|| Grey Saltbush
|-
|''Burchardia umbellata''|| Milkmaids
|-
|''Microseris scapigera''|| Murnong
|}

==See also==
*[[Australian Aboriginal sweet foods]]
*[[Bush bread]]
*[[Bushmeat]], something quite different
*[[Bush medicine]]
*[[Indigenous Australian food groups]]

==External links==
*[http://indigenousaustralia.frogandtoad.com.au/bushtucker.html Aboriginal Australia]
* [http://www.bushfood.net/ Australian Bushfood and Native Medicine Forum]
* [http://www.bom.gov.au/iwk/walabunnba/wantangka.shtml Aboriginal women's knowledge]
*CSIRO plant profiles [http://www.cse.csiro.au/research/nativefoods/crops/index.htm]
* [http://www.cherikoff.net/ Site of an industry pioneer]
* [http://ausbushfoods.com/ Bushfoods Magazine]
* [http://eataustralia.info Eat Australia]

==References==
* Bruneteau, Jean-Paul, ''Tukka, Real Australian Food'', ISBN 0-207-18966-8.
* Cherikoff, Vic, ''The Bushfood Handbook'', ISBN 0-7316-6904-5.
* Issacs, Jennifer, ''Bushfood'', Weldons, Sydney.
* Kersh, Jennice and Raymond, ''Edna's Table'', ISBN 0-7336-0539-7.
* Low, Tim, ''Wild Food Plants of Australia'', ISBN-13: 978-0207143830

[[Category:Bushfood|*]]
[[Category:Australian cuisine]]
[[Category:Indigenous Australian culture]]
[[Category:Flora of Australia]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal bushcraft]]

AY Honors/Cats - Advanced/Answer Key

2007-04-25T03:35:32Z

61.68.226.45: /* Australia */

{{redirect5|Stray cat|the band|Stray Cats}}
[[Image:DorDor.JPG|thumb|400px|right|'''Rescued feral kittens'''Most feral kittens have little chance of surviving more than a few months and are vulnerable to starvation, predators, disease and even flea-induced anemia[http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_flea_anemia.html][http://www.vetmedpub.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=306529]. Here, kittens from two feral litters are fostered by a domestic mother.]]
'''Feral cats''' are the descendents of domesticated cats, which were abandoned by their owners or who strayed into wild areas from their homes. When the domesticated cats mated, their offspring were never handled by or associated with humans, thus making their kittens feral.

Adult feral cats, that were never socialized with humans, can rarely be socialized. Feral kittens can sometimes be socialized to live with humans if they are taken from a feral colony before they are six weeks old, and four to five weeks is preferable.

Feral cats may live alone but are usually found in large groups called [[feral cat colony|feral colonies]] with communal nurseries, depending on resource availability. The [[average life span]] of a feral cat that survives beyond [[kitten]]hood is usually cited as being less than two years<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.crittercontrol.com/?doc=resources_af_cats |title=CritterControl - Cat animal facts |accessdate= 2007-04-11}}</ref>, while a [[domestication|domestic]] house cat lives an average of twelve to sixteen years.  However feral cats aged nineteen (Cat Action Trust) and twenty-six (Cats Protection) have been reported where food and shelter are available.

[[City]]scapes and [[North America]] are not native environments for cats. The domestic cat comes from [[temperate]] or hot, dry [[climate]]s and was distributed throughout the world by [[human]]s. Cats are extremely adaptable, and feral felines have been found in conditions of extreme cold and heat. They are more susceptible to cold, damp conditions than to cold alone. The domestic cat requires a diet of 90% protein, so many feral cats lack adequate nutrition{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. In addition, they have no [[self-defense|defense]] against or understanding of [[predator]]s such as [[dog]]s and [[coyote]]s. The current population of twenty to forty million feral felines in the United States is due, initially, to human interference by environmental introduction and later, by simple human irresponsibility and neglect.

==Major Places with Feral Cats==
{{Expand-section|date=January 2007}}
===United States of America===
[[Image:Girl_kitty.JPG|thumb|220px|right|Some adult feral cats can be socialized, depending on the degree of human interaction throughout their lives; feral kittens must be socialized with humans in order to be adoptable, and it is best to remove them from their mother before 6 weeks of age in order to do so. This feral cat has had the tip of one ear severed, which identifies it as having been sterilized and inoculated by a [[Trap-Neuter-Return]] program.]]

In the United States, there is an ongoing debate about how to deal with feral cat populations. There is little doubt that feral cats are extremely effective at controlling or even eradicating small animal populations, and some cite the utility of cats in controlling populations of verminous rodent species. That is one of the major justifications for the keeping of [[Farm Cat|farm cats]]. However, conservationists argue that feral cats contribute greatly to the killing of songbirds and other endangered birds, with estimates that bird loss is at 100 million a year due to predation. However research into the causes of bird deaths has also found that transparent windows constitute the biggest threat that birds face [http://www.currykerlinger.com/birds.htm]. Additionally, it is argued that the resurgence of other small predators such as the [[gray fox]] (''urocyon cinereoargenteus''), [[fisher (animal)|fisher]] or pekan (''martes pennanti''), [[coyote]] (''canis latrans''), and [[bobcat]] (''lynx rufus'') is a contributing factor in conserved bird deaths. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Websites such as The Feral Cat Hunt {{Fact|date=February 2007}} advocate culling feral cat populations by hunting, arguing that it is the most cost effective method of population control. However, a proposal in the state of Wisconsin to legalize the hunting of feral cats in an attempt to reduce their population (April 2005) was blocked by the state's lawmakers. South Dakota and Minnesota allow wild cats to be shot.

[[Trap-Neuter-Return]] or TNR programs, presented as a humane method of feral cat population control, are facilitated by many volunteers and organizations in the States. These organizations trap and sterilize feral cats as well as provide [[inoculation]] against [[rabies]] and other viruses. Sometimes long-lasting [[flea treatment]]s are also applied before release. Frequently, attending [[veterinarian]]s notch the tip off one [[ear]] during spay/neuter surgery to mark the individual as [[spaying and neutering|spayed or neutered]] and inoculated, as these cats will more than likely find themselves trapped again. Volunteers often continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives, unfortunately, it becomes very difficult to domesticate and adopt a feral cat unless it is trapped and socialized before six weeks of age.
[[Image:Feral_cat.jpg|thumb|150px|Feral cat with clipped ear to signify spay/neuter trap and release.]]

[[October 16]] is National Feral Cat Day in the United States.[http://www.nationalferalcatday.org/]

===Australia===
It has been suggested that feral cats have been present in [[Australia]] since before [[European]] settlement, and may have arrived with [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[shipwreck]]s in the [[17th century]], or even prior to that; arriving from present-day [[Indonesia]] with [[Macassan contact with Australia|Macassan]] fisherman and [[trepang]]ers who frequented Australia's shores. However historical records do not suggest this, instead dating the arrival of feral cats at around 1824. <ref name="Abbot"> Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract] </ref> Intentional releases were made in the late [[19th century]] to control mice, rabbits and rats. Cats had colonised their present range in Australia by 1890. Evidence for early predation by cats having caused major and widespread declines in native fauna is circumstantial and anecdotal and its credibility and significance is debated (Abbot 2002, Dickman 1996).

Feral cats in Australia [[prey]] on a variety of wildlife. In arid and semi-arid environments [[introduced species|introduced]] [[European Rabbit]]s and [[House Mouse|House Mice]] are the dominant part of the diet; in forests and urbanised areas native [[marsupial]] prey forms the larger part of the diet (based on 22 studies summarised in Dickman 1996). In arid environments where rabbits do not occur native rodents are taken. Birds form a smaller part of the diet, mostly in forests and urbanised areas, reptiles also form just a small part of the diet.

Numerous Australian environmentalists and conservationists claim that the feral cat has been an ecological disaster in Australia, inhabiting most ecosystems except dense [[rainforest]], and being implicated in the [[extinction]] of several [[marsupial]] and [[placental]] mammal [[species]] (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Scientific evidence has been hard to come by to support this view and some researchers disagree with it (Abbot 2002). Sound evidence that feral cats exert a significant effect on native wildlife throughout the mainland is lacking (Dickman 1996; Jones 1989; Wilson et al. 1992). Difficulties in separating the effects of cats from that of [[fox]]es (also introduced) and environmental effects have hindered research into this. Cats have co-existed with all mammal species in Tasmania for nearly 200 years. Tasmania is fox free.<ref name="Abbot" /> The Western Shield program in Western Australia, involving broad-scale poisoning of foxes, has resulted in rapid recoveries of many species of native mammals in spite of the presence of feral cats throughout the baited area.<ref name="Abbot" /> However in 2005 a study was published which for the first time found proof of feral cats causing declines in native mammals (Risbey ''et al'' 2005); an [[experiment]] conducted in [[Heirisson Prong]] compared small mammal populations in areas cleared of both foxes and cats, of foxes only, and a control plot. Researchers found that mammal populations were lower in areas cleared of foxes only and in the control plots.

Cats may also play a further role in Australia's human altered ecosystems; with foxes they may be controlling introduced [[rabbit]]s, particularly in arid areas, which themselves cause ecological damage (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Cats are not believed to have been a factor in the extinction of the only mainland [[bird]] species to be lost since European settlement, the [[Paradise Parrot]]; their role in the loss of rare species on [[Australasia]]n islands, however, has been significant.

Australian Folklore has it that some feral cats in Australia have grown so large as to cause inexperienced observers to claim sightings of other species such as [[Puma]] etc. This folklore is however being shown to be more fact then fiction, with the recent shooting of an enormous Feline in the [[Gippsland]] area of [[Victoria_(Australia)]], subsequent DNA test showed the Feline to be [[Felus Catus]]<ref>"Feral Mega Cats" http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/03/australias_new_feral_mega_cats.php#more</ref>. Subsequent news stories of large Feral Cats being sighted is almost monthly in Australia and the evidence is very good to suggest a breading population of these enormous Felines in the south-eastern states of [[Victoria(Australia)]] and [[New South Wales]]<ref>"The Big Cat Files"http://www.strangenation.com.au/Articles/paulclacher.htm</ref>.

Control programs are difficult to devise due to the [[nocturnal animal|nocturnal]] and [[solitary]] nature of feral cats, broad distribution in the landscape and continuous additions to the population from abandoned domestic cats. Due to the danger posed to humans handling the animal, captured feral cats are almost always [[Pest control|killed]]. Although trap neuter and return programs such as those in the United States are not prevalent in Australia, they are now being introduced in some urban and suburban areas such as [[Adelaide]]. More recently, such programs have been introduced in [[Sydney]] by the "World League for Protection of Animals".

===Rome===
[[Rome]], [[Italy]] is perhaps the place with most feral cats, the total number being estimated between 250,000 and 350,000, organized in about 2,000 colonies, some of them living in famous ancient places such as the [[Colosseum]].[http://www.romancats.de/romancats/index_eng.php] Some historians believe, Romans' affection for cats dates from the Roman Empire's conquest of Egypt, where royalty kept cats. Others believe that Rome was spared from devastating outbreaks of the bubonic plague by the city's feral cat population, which kept Rome's rat population low thus reducing key plague carrying vector. Whatever the case, Rome's affection for stray felines remains strong.

==Feral cats and island restoration==
Feral cats [[introduced species|introduced]] to islands with [[island tameness|ecologically naive]] fauna, that is species that have not evolved or have lost predator responses for dealing with cats (Moors & Atkinson 1984), have had a devastating impact on these islands' [[biodiversity]]. They have been implicated in the extinction of several species and local extinctions, such as the [[huita]]s from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Guadalupe Storm-petrel]] from [[Pacific]] [[Mexico]]. Moors and Atkinson wrote, in 1984, "No other alien predator has had such a universally damaging effect." Given the damage they cause, many conservationists working in the field of [[island restoration]] (literally restoring damaged islands through removal of introduced species and replanting and reintroducing native species) have worked to remove feral cats. As of [[2004]], 48 islands have had their feral cat populations removed, including [[New Zealand]]'s network of offshore island bird reserves (Nogales ''et al'', [[2004]]), and Australia's [[Macquarie Island]]. Larger projects have also been undertaken, including their complete removal from [[Ascension Island]]. The cats, introduced in the 19th century, caused a collapse in populations of nesting [[seabird]]s. The project to remove them from the island began in 2002, and the island was cleared of cats by 2004. Since then seven species of seabird which had not nested on the island for a hundred years have returned.[http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2005/07/ascension.html]. In other instances the removal of cats has had unintended concequences, such as on [[Macquarie Island]] where the removal of cats caused an explosion in the number of rabbits and rats which have also harmed native seabirds (the removal of rats and rabbits is scheduled for 2007).

Feral cats, along with rabbits, some sea birds and sheep, form the entire animal population of the remote [[Kerguelen Islands]] in the southern [[Indian Ocean]].

==The Cats of Canada's Parliament==
{{main|Canadian Parliamentary Cats}}
[[Image:Catman.jpg|thumb|150px|Rene Chartrand runs a stray cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]].]]
For many years (tradition associates them with a British garrison of the 1850s), a feral cat colony has existed on Canada's [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]]. In recent years, living structures have been built for them, and they are fed by a volunteer who is given a stipend by the House of Commons. Veterinary services are donated by doctors in the city, and most of the cats are sterilized. At any given time, about fifteen cats live in the colony.
The present Canadian Prime Minister, [[Stephen Harper]], is a cat fan and takes feral kittens into his home to socialize them before they are put up for adoption in Ottawa's shelters. Visitors to his official residence can expect to be asked if they have room in their homes for a cat.

==Activism==

[[Feral cat colony|Feral cat colonies]] often arise from stray or abandoned unsterilized cats. The cats breed rapidly and have multiple-kit litters, although relatively few kittens survive to breeding age.

The conditions lived in by feral cats vary immensely. Some live short, dangerous, unhealthy, desperate lives, in deplorable conditions{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. Others are welcomed as working cats around factories and farms, and while their lives are not luxurious, some live over 10 years. Cat Action Trust has encountered ferals up to 19 years old; the record age for a feral is 26. Because of the perceived dangers to humans, other species, and the cats themselves, and out of compassion toward the animals, many people, including [[celebrity|celebrities]] such as [[Bob Barker]], campaign to encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and support the humane control of feral cats.

A growing number of animal societies realize that feral cats are wild animals and should not be judged by pet animal standards. Where the cats perform a useful task or are not a threat to the local ecology, the approach is to trap, neuter and return them to their own habitat, while removing any ill, injured or tameable individuals. 

Unfortunately, recent studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association indicate that trap-neuter-release programs are not effective in reducing feral cat populations. These programs cannot be effective unless they manage cats on a population--rather than colony--basis, neuter at least 75% of the cats in the population, and carrying capacity is reduced, usually by reducing the amount of food provided to the cats by humans.

==In Popular Culture==

In the [[Redwall]] book [[High Rhulain]] the Feral Cat Army of Green Isle is the enemy occupation force on the island of Green Isle. As in real life, the feral cat soldiers are very effective at culling birds but easily killed by [[hare]]s and [[otter]]s.

==References==
<references />
* Tabor, Roger, Arrow Books (1983). ''The Wild Life of the Domestic Cat.'' ISBN 0-09-931210-7
* Moors, P.J.; Atkinson, I.A.E. (1984). "Predation on seabirds by introduced animals, and factors affecting its severity.". In ''Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds''. Cambridge: ICBP. ISBN 0-946888-03-5.
* Nogales, Manuel ''et al'' ([[2004]]). "A review of feral cat eradication on islands". ''Conservation Biology''. '''18'''(2): 310-319. [http://www.issg.org/database/species/reference_files/felcat/Nogales%20et%20al.%202004.pdf]
* Risbey, Danielle A. ; Calver, Michael C. ; Short, Jeff ; Bradley J. Stuart and Ian W. Wright (2005) The impact of cats and foxes on the small vertebrate fauna of Heirisson Prong, Western Australia. II. A field experiment " ''Wildlife Research'' '''27'''(3): 223-235 [http://publish.csiro.au/nid/144/paper/WR98092.htm abstract]
* Robley, A., Reddiex, B., Arthur T., Pech R., and Forsyth, D., (2004). "Interactions between feral cats, foxes, native carnivores, and rabbits in Australia". Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.
* Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract]
* Dickman, C. (1996) "Overview of the Impact of Feral Cats on Australian Fauna" Australian Nature Conservation Agency ISBN 0-642-21379-8 [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf whole text]

==External links==
* [http://www.alleycat.org Alley Cat Allies] Feral Cat Resource - provides information about how to deal with feral cats humanely.
* [http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/ Birds and cats: the ''Cats Indoors!'' program] (information from the American Bird Conservancy)
* [http://www.feralcat.com/ Feral Cat Coalition]
* [http://www.felineresistance.com/ The Feline Resistance]
* [http://www.indyferal.org/ IndyFeral.org]
* [http://www.cat77.org.uk/ Cat Action Trust 1977]
* [http://www.catactiontrust.org.uk/ Original Cat Action Trust]
* Defenders of Wildlife. [http://www.defenders.org/defendersmag/issues/spring03/plightsongbird.html Plight of the Vanishing Songbirds]
* [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf] Australian Department of Environment and Heritage: Overview of the impact of feral cats on native fauna (pdf)
* lovethatcat.com: [http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html List of US spay & neuter programs]
* [http://www.messybeast.com/eradicat.htm Why Extermination of Ferals is Ineffective]
* [http://www.messybeast.com/feralkit.htm#Kittens Taming Feral Kittens]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/nature_20030623.shtml Feral cats] (BBC)
*[http://www.animalsaustralia.org/default2.asp?idL1=1274&idL2=1311 Animals Australia]: Feral Cat bibliography
*[http://www.wildlife.org/policy/index.cfm?tname=policystatements&statement=ps28 Feral cats] (The Wildlife Society)
* [http://www.happytails.org happy tails]

==See also==
*[[Warriors (book series)]]

[[Category:Cat types]]
[[Category:invasive species]]

[[fr:Chat haret]]
[[nl:Verwilderde kat]]
[[ja:野良猫]]

AY Honors/Cats - Advanced/Answer Key

2007-04-25T03:23:26Z

61.68.226.45: /* Australia */

{{redirect5|Stray cat|the band|Stray Cats}}
[[Image:DorDor.JPG|thumb|400px|right|'''Rescued feral kittens'''Most feral kittens have little chance of surviving more than a few months and are vulnerable to starvation, predators, disease and even flea-induced anemia[http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_flea_anemia.html][http://www.vetmedpub.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=306529]. Here, kittens from two feral litters are fostered by a domestic mother.]]
'''Feral cats''' are the descendents of domesticated cats, which were abandoned by their owners or who strayed into wild areas from their homes. When the domesticated cats mated, their offspring were never handled by or associated with humans, thus making their kittens feral.

Adult feral cats, that were never socialized with humans, can rarely be socialized. Feral kittens can sometimes be socialized to live with humans if they are taken from a feral colony before they are six weeks old, and four to five weeks is preferable.

Feral cats may live alone but are usually found in large groups called [[feral cat colony|feral colonies]] with communal nurseries, depending on resource availability. The [[average life span]] of a feral cat that survives beyond [[kitten]]hood is usually cited as being less than two years<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.crittercontrol.com/?doc=resources_af_cats |title=CritterControl - Cat animal facts |accessdate= 2007-04-11}}</ref>, while a [[domestication|domestic]] house cat lives an average of twelve to sixteen years.  However feral cats aged nineteen (Cat Action Trust) and twenty-six (Cats Protection) have been reported where food and shelter are available.

[[City]]scapes and [[North America]] are not native environments for cats. The domestic cat comes from [[temperate]] or hot, dry [[climate]]s and was distributed throughout the world by [[human]]s. Cats are extremely adaptable, and feral felines have been found in conditions of extreme cold and heat. They are more susceptible to cold, damp conditions than to cold alone. The domestic cat requires a diet of 90% protein, so many feral cats lack adequate nutrition{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. In addition, they have no [[self-defense|defense]] against or understanding of [[predator]]s such as [[dog]]s and [[coyote]]s. The current population of twenty to forty million feral felines in the United States is due, initially, to human interference by environmental introduction and later, by simple human irresponsibility and neglect.

==Major Places with Feral Cats==
{{Expand-section|date=January 2007}}
===United States of America===
[[Image:Girl_kitty.JPG|thumb|220px|right|Some adult feral cats can be socialized, depending on the degree of human interaction throughout their lives; feral kittens must be socialized with humans in order to be adoptable, and it is best to remove them from their mother before 6 weeks of age in order to do so. This feral cat has had the tip of one ear severed, which identifies it as having been sterilized and inoculated by a [[Trap-Neuter-Return]] program.]]

In the United States, there is an ongoing debate about how to deal with feral cat populations. There is little doubt that feral cats are extremely effective at controlling or even eradicating small animal populations, and some cite the utility of cats in controlling populations of verminous rodent species. That is one of the major justifications for the keeping of [[Farm Cat|farm cats]]. However, conservationists argue that feral cats contribute greatly to the killing of songbirds and other endangered birds, with estimates that bird loss is at 100 million a year due to predation. However research into the causes of bird deaths has also found that transparent windows constitute the biggest threat that birds face [http://www.currykerlinger.com/birds.htm]. Additionally, it is argued that the resurgence of other small predators such as the [[gray fox]] (''urocyon cinereoargenteus''), [[fisher (animal)|fisher]] or pekan (''martes pennanti''), [[coyote]] (''canis latrans''), and [[bobcat]] (''lynx rufus'') is a contributing factor in conserved bird deaths. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Websites such as The Feral Cat Hunt {{Fact|date=February 2007}} advocate culling feral cat populations by hunting, arguing that it is the most cost effective method of population control. However, a proposal in the state of Wisconsin to legalize the hunting of feral cats in an attempt to reduce their population (April 2005) was blocked by the state's lawmakers. South Dakota and Minnesota allow wild cats to be shot.

[[Trap-Neuter-Return]] or TNR programs, presented as a humane method of feral cat population control, are facilitated by many volunteers and organizations in the States. These organizations trap and sterilize feral cats as well as provide [[inoculation]] against [[rabies]] and other viruses. Sometimes long-lasting [[flea treatment]]s are also applied before release. Frequently, attending [[veterinarian]]s notch the tip off one [[ear]] during spay/neuter surgery to mark the individual as [[spaying and neutering|spayed or neutered]] and inoculated, as these cats will more than likely find themselves trapped again. Volunteers often continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives, unfortunately, it becomes very difficult to domesticate and adopt a feral cat unless it is trapped and socialized before six weeks of age.
[[Image:Feral_cat.jpg|thumb|150px|Feral cat with clipped ear to signify spay/neuter trap and release.]]

[[October 16]] is National Feral Cat Day in the United States.[http://www.nationalferalcatday.org/]

===Australia===
It has been suggested that feral cats have been present in [[Australia]] since before [[European]] settlement, and may have arrived with [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[shipwreck]]s in the [[17th century]], or even prior to that; arriving from present-day [[Indonesia]] with [[Macassan]] fisherman and [[trepang]]ers who frequented Australia's shores. However historical records do not suggest this, instead dating the arrival of feral cats at around 1824. <ref name="Abbot"> Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract] </ref> Intentional releases were made in the late [[19th century]] to control mice, rabbits and rats. Cats had colonised their present range in Australia by 1890. Evidence for early predation by cats having caused major and widespread declines in native fauna is circumstantial and anecdotal and its credibility and significance is debated (Abbot 2002, Dickman 1996).

Feral cats in Australia [[prey]] on a variety of wildlife. In arid and semi-arid environments [[introduced species|introduced]] [[European Rabbit]]s and [[House Mouse|House Mice]] are the dominant part of the diet; in forests and urbanised areas native [[marsupial]] prey forms the larger part of the diet (based on 22 studies summarised in Dickman 1996). In arid environments where rabbits do not occur native rodents are taken. Birds form a smaller part of the diet, mostly in forests and urbanised areas, reptiles also form just a small part of the diet.

Numerous Australian environmentalists and conservationists claim that the feral cat has been an ecological disaster in Australia, inhabiting most ecosystems except dense [[rainforest]], and being implicated in the [[extinction]] of several [[marsupial]] and [[placental]] mammal [[species]] (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Scientific evidence has been hard to come by to support this view and some researchers disagree with it (Abbot 2002). Sound evidence that feral cats exert a significant effect on native wildlife throughout the mainland is lacking (Dickman 1996; Jones 1989; Wilson et al. 1992). Difficulties in separating the effects of cats from that of [[fox]]es (also introduced) and environmental effects have hindered research into this. Cats have co-existed with all mammal species in Tasmania for nearly 200 years. Tasmania is fox free.<ref name="Abbot" /> The Western Shield program in Western Australia, involving broad-scale poisoning of foxes, has resulted in rapid recoveries of many species of native mammals in spite of the presence of feral cats throughout the baited area.<ref name="Abbot" /> However in 2005 a study was published which for the first time found proof of feral cats causing declines in native mammals (Risbey ''et al'' 2005); an [[experiment]] conducted in [[Heirisson Prong]] compared small mammal populations in areas cleared of both foxes and cats, of foxes only, and a control plot. Researchers found that mammal populations were lower in areas cleared of foxes only and in the control plots.

Cats may also play a further role in Australia's human altered ecosystems; with foxes they may be controlling introduced [[rabbit]]s, particularly in arid areas, which themselves cause ecological damage (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Cats are not believed to have been a factor in the extinction of the only mainland [[bird]] species to be lost since European settlement, the [[Paradise Parrot]]; their role in the loss of rare species on [[Australasia]]n islands, however, has been significant.

Australian Folklore has it that some feral cats in Australia have grown so large as to cause inexperienced observers to claim sightings of other species such as [[Puma]] etc. This folklore is however being shown to be more fact then fiction, with the recent shooting of an enormous Feline in the [[Gippsland]] area of [[Victoria_(Australia)]], subsequent DNA test showed the Feline to be [[Felus Catus]]<ref>"Feral Mega Cats" http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/03/australias_new_feral_mega_cats.php#more</ref>. Subsequent news stories of large Feral Cats being sighted is almost monthly in Australia and the evidence is very good to suggest a breading population of these enormous Felines in the south-eastern states of [[Victoria(Australia)]] and [[New South Wales]]<ref>"The Big Cat Files"http://www.strangenation.com.au/Articles/paulclacher.htm</ref>.

Control programs are difficult to devise due to the [[nocturnal animal|nocturnal]] and [[solitary]] nature of feral cats, broad distribution in the landscape and continuous additions to the population from abandoned domestic cats. Due to the danger posed to humans handling the animal, captured feral cats are almost always [[Pest control|killed]]. Although trap neuter and return programs such as those in the United States are not prevalent in Australia, they are now being introduced in some urban and suburban areas such as [[Adelaide]]. More recently, such programs have been introduced in [[Sydney]] by the "World League for Protection of Animals".

===Rome===
[[Rome]], [[Italy]] is perhaps the place with most feral cats, the total number being estimated between 250,000 and 350,000, organized in about 2,000 colonies, some of them living in famous ancient places such as the [[Colosseum]].[http://www.romancats.de/romancats/index_eng.php] Some historians believe, Romans' affection for cats dates from the Roman Empire's conquest of Egypt, where royalty kept cats. Others believe that Rome was spared from devastating outbreaks of the bubonic plague by the city's feral cat population, which kept Rome's rat population low thus reducing key plague carrying vector. Whatever the case, Rome's affection for stray felines remains strong.

==Feral cats and island restoration==
Feral cats [[introduced species|introduced]] to islands with [[island tameness|ecologically naive]] fauna, that is species that have not evolved or have lost predator responses for dealing with cats (Moors & Atkinson 1984), have had a devastating impact on these islands' [[biodiversity]]. They have been implicated in the extinction of several species and local extinctions, such as the [[huita]]s from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Guadalupe Storm-petrel]] from [[Pacific]] [[Mexico]]. Moors and Atkinson wrote, in 1984, "No other alien predator has had such a universally damaging effect." Given the damage they cause, many conservationists working in the field of [[island restoration]] (literally restoring damaged islands through removal of introduced species and replanting and reintroducing native species) have worked to remove feral cats. As of [[2004]], 48 islands have had their feral cat populations removed, including [[New Zealand]]'s network of offshore island bird reserves (Nogales ''et al'', [[2004]]), and Australia's [[Macquarie Island]]. Larger projects have also been undertaken, including their complete removal from [[Ascension Island]]. The cats, introduced in the 19th century, caused a collapse in populations of nesting [[seabird]]s. The project to remove them from the island began in 2002, and the island was cleared of cats by 2004. Since then seven species of seabird which had not nested on the island for a hundred years have returned.[http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2005/07/ascension.html]. In other instances the removal of cats has had unintended concequences, such as on [[Macquarie Island]] where the removal of cats caused an explosion in the number of rabbits and rats which have also harmed native seabirds (the removal of rats and rabbits is scheduled for 2007).

Feral cats, along with rabbits, some sea birds and sheep, form the entire animal population of the remote [[Kerguelen Islands]] in the southern [[Indian Ocean]].

==The Cats of Canada's Parliament==
{{main|Canadian Parliamentary Cats}}
[[Image:Catman.jpg|thumb|150px|Rene Chartrand runs a stray cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]].]]
For many years (tradition associates them with a British garrison of the 1850s), a feral cat colony has existed on Canada's [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]]. In recent years, living structures have been built for them, and they are fed by a volunteer who is given a stipend by the House of Commons. Veterinary services are donated by doctors in the city, and most of the cats are sterilized. At any given time, about fifteen cats live in the colony.
The present Canadian Prime Minister, [[Stephen Harper]], is a cat fan and takes feral kittens into his home to socialize them before they are put up for adoption in Ottawa's shelters. Visitors to his official residence can expect to be asked if they have room in their homes for a cat.

==Activism==

[[Feral cat colony|Feral cat colonies]] often arise from stray or abandoned unsterilized cats. The cats breed rapidly and have multiple-kit litters, although relatively few kittens survive to breeding age.

The conditions lived in by feral cats vary immensely. Some live short, dangerous, unhealthy, desperate lives, in deplorable conditions{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. Others are welcomed as working cats around factories and farms, and while their lives are not luxurious, some live over 10 years. Cat Action Trust has encountered ferals up to 19 years old; the record age for a feral is 26. Because of the perceived dangers to humans, other species, and the cats themselves, and out of compassion toward the animals, many people, including [[celebrity|celebrities]] such as [[Bob Barker]], campaign to encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and support the humane control of feral cats.

A growing number of animal societies realize that feral cats are wild animals and should not be judged by pet animal standards. Where the cats perform a useful task or are not a threat to the local ecology, the approach is to trap, neuter and return them to their own habitat, while removing any ill, injured or tameable individuals. 

Unfortunately, recent studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association indicate that trap-neuter-release programs are not effective in reducing feral cat populations. These programs cannot be effective unless they manage cats on a population--rather than colony--basis, neuter at least 75% of the cats in the population, and carrying capacity is reduced, usually by reducing the amount of food provided to the cats by humans.

==In Popular Culture==

In the [[Redwall]] book [[High Rhulain]] the Feral Cat Army of Green Isle is the enemy occupation force on the island of Green Isle. As in real life, the feral cat soldiers are very effective at culling birds but easily killed by [[hare]]s and [[otter]]s.

==References==
<references />
* Tabor, Roger, Arrow Books (1983). ''The Wild Life of the Domestic Cat.'' ISBN 0-09-931210-7
* Moors, P.J.; Atkinson, I.A.E. (1984). "Predation on seabirds by introduced animals, and factors affecting its severity.". In ''Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds''. Cambridge: ICBP. ISBN 0-946888-03-5.
* Nogales, Manuel ''et al'' ([[2004]]). "A review of feral cat eradication on islands". ''Conservation Biology''. '''18'''(2): 310-319. [http://www.issg.org/database/species/reference_files/felcat/Nogales%20et%20al.%202004.pdf]
* Risbey, Danielle A. ; Calver, Michael C. ; Short, Jeff ; Bradley J. Stuart and Ian W. Wright (2005) The impact of cats and foxes on the small vertebrate fauna of Heirisson Prong, Western Australia. II. A field experiment " ''Wildlife Research'' '''27'''(3): 223-235 [http://publish.csiro.au/nid/144/paper/WR98092.htm abstract]
* Robley, A., Reddiex, B., Arthur T., Pech R., and Forsyth, D., (2004). "Interactions between feral cats, foxes, native carnivores, and rabbits in Australia". Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.
* Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract]
* Dickman, C. (1996) "Overview of the Impact of Feral Cats on Australian Fauna" Australian Nature Conservation Agency ISBN 0-642-21379-8 [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf whole text]

==External links==
* [http://www.alleycat.org Alley Cat Allies] Feral Cat Resource - provides information about how to deal with feral cats humanely.
* [http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/ Birds and cats: the ''Cats Indoors!'' program] (information from the American Bird Conservancy)
* [http://www.feralcat.com/ Feral Cat Coalition]
* [http://www.felineresistance.com/ The Feline Resistance]
* [http://www.indyferal.org/ IndyFeral.org]
* [http://www.cat77.org.uk/ Cat Action Trust 1977]
* [http://www.catactiontrust.org.uk/ Original Cat Action Trust]
* Defenders of Wildlife. [http://www.defenders.org/defendersmag/issues/spring03/plightsongbird.html Plight of the Vanishing Songbirds]
* [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf] Australian Department of Environment and Heritage: Overview of the impact of feral cats on native fauna (pdf)
* lovethatcat.com: [http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html List of US spay & neuter programs]
* [http://www.messybeast.com/eradicat.htm Why Extermination of Ferals is Ineffective]
* [http://www.messybeast.com/feralkit.htm#Kittens Taming Feral Kittens]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/nature_20030623.shtml Feral cats] (BBC)
*[http://www.animalsaustralia.org/default2.asp?idL1=1274&idL2=1311 Animals Australia]: Feral Cat bibliography
*[http://www.wildlife.org/policy/index.cfm?tname=policystatements&statement=ps28 Feral cats] (The Wildlife Society)
* [http://www.happytails.org happy tails]

==See also==
*[[Warriors (book series)]]

[[Category:Cat types]]
[[Category:invasive species]]

[[fr:Chat haret]]
[[nl:Verwilderde kat]]
[[ja:野良猫]]

AY Honors/Cats - Advanced/Answer Key

2007-04-25T03:22:55Z

61.68.226.45: /* Australia */

{{redirect5|Stray cat|the band|Stray Cats}}
[[Image:DorDor.JPG|thumb|400px|right|'''Rescued feral kittens'''Most feral kittens have little chance of surviving more than a few months and are vulnerable to starvation, predators, disease and even flea-induced anemia[http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_flea_anemia.html][http://www.vetmedpub.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=306529]. Here, kittens from two feral litters are fostered by a domestic mother.]]
'''Feral cats''' are the descendents of domesticated cats, which were abandoned by their owners or who strayed into wild areas from their homes. When the domesticated cats mated, their offspring were never handled by or associated with humans, thus making their kittens feral.

Adult feral cats, that were never socialized with humans, can rarely be socialized. Feral kittens can sometimes be socialized to live with humans if they are taken from a feral colony before they are six weeks old, and four to five weeks is preferable.

Feral cats may live alone but are usually found in large groups called [[feral cat colony|feral colonies]] with communal nurseries, depending on resource availability. The [[average life span]] of a feral cat that survives beyond [[kitten]]hood is usually cited as being less than two years<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.crittercontrol.com/?doc=resources_af_cats |title=CritterControl - Cat animal facts |accessdate= 2007-04-11}}</ref>, while a [[domestication|domestic]] house cat lives an average of twelve to sixteen years.  However feral cats aged nineteen (Cat Action Trust) and twenty-six (Cats Protection) have been reported where food and shelter are available.

[[City]]scapes and [[North America]] are not native environments for cats. The domestic cat comes from [[temperate]] or hot, dry [[climate]]s and was distributed throughout the world by [[human]]s. Cats are extremely adaptable, and feral felines have been found in conditions of extreme cold and heat. They are more susceptible to cold, damp conditions than to cold alone. The domestic cat requires a diet of 90% protein, so many feral cats lack adequate nutrition{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. In addition, they have no [[self-defense|defense]] against or understanding of [[predator]]s such as [[dog]]s and [[coyote]]s. The current population of twenty to forty million feral felines in the United States is due, initially, to human interference by environmental introduction and later, by simple human irresponsibility and neglect.

==Major Places with Feral Cats==
{{Expand-section|date=January 2007}}
===United States of America===
[[Image:Girl_kitty.JPG|thumb|220px|right|Some adult feral cats can be socialized, depending on the degree of human interaction throughout their lives; feral kittens must be socialized with humans in order to be adoptable, and it is best to remove them from their mother before 6 weeks of age in order to do so. This feral cat has had the tip of one ear severed, which identifies it as having been sterilized and inoculated by a [[Trap-Neuter-Return]] program.]]

In the United States, there is an ongoing debate about how to deal with feral cat populations. There is little doubt that feral cats are extremely effective at controlling or even eradicating small animal populations, and some cite the utility of cats in controlling populations of verminous rodent species. That is one of the major justifications for the keeping of [[Farm Cat|farm cats]]. However, conservationists argue that feral cats contribute greatly to the killing of songbirds and other endangered birds, with estimates that bird loss is at 100 million a year due to predation. However research into the causes of bird deaths has also found that transparent windows constitute the biggest threat that birds face [http://www.currykerlinger.com/birds.htm]. Additionally, it is argued that the resurgence of other small predators such as the [[gray fox]] (''urocyon cinereoargenteus''), [[fisher (animal)|fisher]] or pekan (''martes pennanti''), [[coyote]] (''canis latrans''), and [[bobcat]] (''lynx rufus'') is a contributing factor in conserved bird deaths. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Websites such as The Feral Cat Hunt {{Fact|date=February 2007}} advocate culling feral cat populations by hunting, arguing that it is the most cost effective method of population control. However, a proposal in the state of Wisconsin to legalize the hunting of feral cats in an attempt to reduce their population (April 2005) was blocked by the state's lawmakers. South Dakota and Minnesota allow wild cats to be shot.

[[Trap-Neuter-Return]] or TNR programs, presented as a humane method of feral cat population control, are facilitated by many volunteers and organizations in the States. These organizations trap and sterilize feral cats as well as provide [[inoculation]] against [[rabies]] and other viruses. Sometimes long-lasting [[flea treatment]]s are also applied before release. Frequently, attending [[veterinarian]]s notch the tip off one [[ear]] during spay/neuter surgery to mark the individual as [[spaying and neutering|spayed or neutered]] and inoculated, as these cats will more than likely find themselves trapped again. Volunteers often continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives, unfortunately, it becomes very difficult to domesticate and adopt a feral cat unless it is trapped and socialized before six weeks of age.
[[Image:Feral_cat.jpg|thumb|150px|Feral cat with clipped ear to signify spay/neuter trap and release.]]

[[October 16]] is National Feral Cat Day in the United States.[http://www.nationalferalcatday.org/]

===Australia===
It has been suggested that feral cats have been present in [[Australia]] since before [[European]] settlement, and may have arrived with [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[shipwreck]]s in the [[17th century]], or even prior from present-day [[Indonesia]]; [[Macassan]] fisherman and [[trepang]]ers who frequented Australia's shores. However historical records do not suggest this, instead dating the arrival of feral cats at around 1824. <ref name="Abbot"> Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract] </ref> Intentional releases were made in the late [[19th century]] to control mice, rabbits and rats. Cats had colonised their present range in Australia by 1890. Evidence for early predation by cats having caused major and widespread declines in native fauna is circumstantial and anecdotal and its credibility and significance is debated (Abbot 2002, Dickman 1996).

Feral cats in Australia [[prey]] on a variety of wildlife. In arid and semi-arid environments [[introduced species|introduced]] [[European Rabbit]]s and [[House Mouse|House Mice]] are the dominant part of the diet; in forests and urbanised areas native [[marsupial]] prey forms the larger part of the diet (based on 22 studies summarised in Dickman 1996). In arid environments where rabbits do not occur native rodents are taken. Birds form a smaller part of the diet, mostly in forests and urbanised areas, reptiles also form just a small part of the diet.

Numerous Australian environmentalists and conservationists claim that the feral cat has been an ecological disaster in Australia, inhabiting most ecosystems except dense [[rainforest]], and being implicated in the [[extinction]] of several [[marsupial]] and [[placental]] mammal [[species]] (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Scientific evidence has been hard to come by to support this view and some researchers disagree with it (Abbot 2002). Sound evidence that feral cats exert a significant effect on native wildlife throughout the mainland is lacking (Dickman 1996; Jones 1989; Wilson et al. 1992). Difficulties in separating the effects of cats from that of [[fox]]es (also introduced) and environmental effects have hindered research into this. Cats have co-existed with all mammal species in Tasmania for nearly 200 years. Tasmania is fox free.<ref name="Abbot" /> The Western Shield program in Western Australia, involving broad-scale poisoning of foxes, has resulted in rapid recoveries of many species of native mammals in spite of the presence of feral cats throughout the baited area.<ref name="Abbot" /> However in 2005 a study was published which for the first time found proof of feral cats causing declines in native mammals (Risbey ''et al'' 2005); an [[experiment]] conducted in [[Heirisson Prong]] compared small mammal populations in areas cleared of both foxes and cats, of foxes only, and a control plot. Researchers found that mammal populations were lower in areas cleared of foxes only and in the control plots.

Cats may also play a further role in Australia's human altered ecosystems; with foxes they may be controlling introduced [[rabbit]]s, particularly in arid areas, which themselves cause ecological damage (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Cats are not believed to have been a factor in the extinction of the only mainland [[bird]] species to be lost since European settlement, the [[Paradise Parrot]]; their role in the loss of rare species on [[Australasia]]n islands, however, has been significant.

Australian Folklore has it that some feral cats in Australia have grown so large as to cause inexperienced observers to claim sightings of other species such as [[Puma]] etc. This folklore is however being shown to be more fact then fiction, with the recent shooting of an enormous Feline in the [[Gippsland]] area of [[Victoria_(Australia)]], subsequent DNA test showed the Feline to be [[Felus Catus]]<ref>"Feral Mega Cats" http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/03/australias_new_feral_mega_cats.php#more</ref>. Subsequent news stories of large Feral Cats being sighted is almost monthly in Australia and the evidence is very good to suggest a breading population of these enormous Felines in the south-eastern states of [[Victoria(Australia)]] and [[New South Wales]]<ref>"The Big Cat Files"http://www.strangenation.com.au/Articles/paulclacher.htm</ref>.

Control programs are difficult to devise due to the [[nocturnal animal|nocturnal]] and [[solitary]] nature of feral cats, broad distribution in the landscape and continuous additions to the population from abandoned domestic cats. Due to the danger posed to humans handling the animal, captured feral cats are almost always [[Pest control|killed]]. Although trap neuter and return programs such as those in the United States are not prevalent in Australia, they are now being introduced in some urban and suburban areas such as [[Adelaide]]. More recently, such programs have been introduced in [[Sydney]] by the "World League for Protection of Animals".

===Rome===
[[Rome]], [[Italy]] is perhaps the place with most feral cats, the total number being estimated between 250,000 and 350,000, organized in about 2,000 colonies, some of them living in famous ancient places such as the [[Colosseum]].[http://www.romancats.de/romancats/index_eng.php] Some historians believe, Romans' affection for cats dates from the Roman Empire's conquest of Egypt, where royalty kept cats. Others believe that Rome was spared from devastating outbreaks of the bubonic plague by the city's feral cat population, which kept Rome's rat population low thus reducing key plague carrying vector. Whatever the case, Rome's affection for stray felines remains strong.

==Feral cats and island restoration==
Feral cats [[introduced species|introduced]] to islands with [[island tameness|ecologically naive]] fauna, that is species that have not evolved or have lost predator responses for dealing with cats (Moors & Atkinson 1984), have had a devastating impact on these islands' [[biodiversity]]. They have been implicated in the extinction of several species and local extinctions, such as the [[huita]]s from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Guadalupe Storm-petrel]] from [[Pacific]] [[Mexico]]. Moors and Atkinson wrote, in 1984, "No other alien predator has had such a universally damaging effect." Given the damage they cause, many conservationists working in the field of [[island restoration]] (literally restoring damaged islands through removal of introduced species and replanting and reintroducing native species) have worked to remove feral cats. As of [[2004]], 48 islands have had their feral cat populations removed, including [[New Zealand]]'s network of offshore island bird reserves (Nogales ''et al'', [[2004]]), and Australia's [[Macquarie Island]]. Larger projects have also been undertaken, including their complete removal from [[Ascension Island]]. The cats, introduced in the 19th century, caused a collapse in populations of nesting [[seabird]]s. The project to remove them from the island began in 2002, and the island was cleared of cats by 2004. Since then seven species of seabird which had not nested on the island for a hundred years have returned.[http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2005/07/ascension.html]. In other instances the removal of cats has had unintended concequences, such as on [[Macquarie Island]] where the removal of cats caused an explosion in the number of rabbits and rats which have also harmed native seabirds (the removal of rats and rabbits is scheduled for 2007).

Feral cats, along with rabbits, some sea birds and sheep, form the entire animal population of the remote [[Kerguelen Islands]] in the southern [[Indian Ocean]].

==The Cats of Canada's Parliament==
{{main|Canadian Parliamentary Cats}}
[[Image:Catman.jpg|thumb|150px|Rene Chartrand runs a stray cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]].]]
For many years (tradition associates them with a British garrison of the 1850s), a feral cat colony has existed on Canada's [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]]. In recent years, living structures have been built for them, and they are fed by a volunteer who is given a stipend by the House of Commons. Veterinary services are donated by doctors in the city, and most of the cats are sterilized. At any given time, about fifteen cats live in the colony.
The present Canadian Prime Minister, [[Stephen Harper]], is a cat fan and takes feral kittens into his home to socialize them before they are put up for adoption in Ottawa's shelters. Visitors to his official residence can expect to be asked if they have room in their homes for a cat.

==Activism==

[[Feral cat colony|Feral cat colonies]] often arise from stray or abandoned unsterilized cats. The cats breed rapidly and have multiple-kit litters, although relatively few kittens survive to breeding age.

The conditions lived in by feral cats vary immensely. Some live short, dangerous, unhealthy, desperate lives, in deplorable conditions{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. Others are welcomed as working cats around factories and farms, and while their lives are not luxurious, some live over 10 years. Cat Action Trust has encountered ferals up to 19 years old; the record age for a feral is 26. Because of the perceived dangers to humans, other species, and the cats themselves, and out of compassion toward the animals, many people, including [[celebrity|celebrities]] such as [[Bob Barker]], campaign to encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and support the humane control of feral cats.

A growing number of animal societies realize that feral cats are wild animals and should not be judged by pet animal standards. Where the cats perform a useful task or are not a threat to the local ecology, the approach is to trap, neuter and return them to their own habitat, while removing any ill, injured or tameable individuals. 

Unfortunately, recent studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association indicate that trap-neuter-release programs are not effective in reducing feral cat populations. These programs cannot be effective unless they manage cats on a population--rather than colony--basis, neuter at least 75% of the cats in the population, and carrying capacity is reduced, usually by reducing the amount of food provided to the cats by humans.

==In Popular Culture==

In the [[Redwall]] book [[High Rhulain]] the Feral Cat Army of Green Isle is the enemy occupation force on the island of Green Isle. As in real life, the feral cat soldiers are very effective at culling birds but easily killed by [[hare]]s and [[otter]]s.

==References==
<references />
* Tabor, Roger, Arrow Books (1983). ''The Wild Life of the Domestic Cat.'' ISBN 0-09-931210-7
* Moors, P.J.; Atkinson, I.A.E. (1984). "Predation on seabirds by introduced animals, and factors affecting its severity.". In ''Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds''. Cambridge: ICBP. ISBN 0-946888-03-5.
* Nogales, Manuel ''et al'' ([[2004]]). "A review of feral cat eradication on islands". ''Conservation Biology''. '''18'''(2): 310-319. [http://www.issg.org/database/species/reference_files/felcat/Nogales%20et%20al.%202004.pdf]
* Risbey, Danielle A. ; Calver, Michael C. ; Short, Jeff ; Bradley J. Stuart and Ian W. Wright (2005) The impact of cats and foxes on the small vertebrate fauna of Heirisson Prong, Western Australia. II. A field experiment " ''Wildlife Research'' '''27'''(3): 223-235 [http://publish.csiro.au/nid/144/paper/WR98092.htm abstract]
* Robley, A., Reddiex, B., Arthur T., Pech R., and Forsyth, D., (2004). "Interactions between feral cats, foxes, native carnivores, and rabbits in Australia". Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.
* Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract]
* Dickman, C. (1996) "Overview of the Impact of Feral Cats on Australian Fauna" Australian Nature Conservation Agency ISBN 0-642-21379-8 [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf whole text]

==External links==
* [http://www.alleycat.org Alley Cat Allies] Feral Cat Resource - provides information about how to deal with feral cats humanely.
* [http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/ Birds and cats: the ''Cats Indoors!'' program] (information from the American Bird Conservancy)
* [http://www.feralcat.com/ Feral Cat Coalition]
* [http://www.felineresistance.com/ The Feline Resistance]
* [http://www.indyferal.org/ IndyFeral.org]
* [http://www.cat77.org.uk/ Cat Action Trust 1977]
* [http://www.catactiontrust.org.uk/ Original Cat Action Trust]
* Defenders of Wildlife. [http://www.defenders.org/defendersmag/issues/spring03/plightsongbird.html Plight of the Vanishing Songbirds]
* [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf] Australian Department of Environment and Heritage: Overview of the impact of feral cats on native fauna (pdf)
* lovethatcat.com: [http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html List of US spay & neuter programs]
* [http://www.messybeast.com/eradicat.htm Why Extermination of Ferals is Ineffective]
* [http://www.messybeast.com/feralkit.htm#Kittens Taming Feral Kittens]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/nature_20030623.shtml Feral cats] (BBC)
*[http://www.animalsaustralia.org/default2.asp?idL1=1274&idL2=1311 Animals Australia]: Feral Cat bibliography
*[http://www.wildlife.org/policy/index.cfm?tname=policystatements&statement=ps28 Feral cats] (The Wildlife Society)
* [http://www.happytails.org happy tails]

==See also==
*[[Warriors (book series)]]

[[Category:Cat types]]
[[Category:invasive species]]

[[fr:Chat haret]]
[[nl:Verwilderde kat]]
[[ja:野良猫]]

AY Honors/Cats - Advanced/Answer Key

2007-04-25T03:20:41Z

61.68.226.45:

{{redirect5|Stray cat|the band|Stray Cats}}
[[Image:DorDor.JPG|thumb|400px|right|'''Rescued feral kittens'''Most feral kittens have little chance of surviving more than a few months and are vulnerable to starvation, predators, disease and even flea-induced anemia[http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_flea_anemia.html][http://www.vetmedpub.com/vetmed/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=306529]. Here, kittens from two feral litters are fostered by a domestic mother.]]
'''Feral cats''' are the descendents of domesticated cats, which were abandoned by their owners or who strayed into wild areas from their homes. When the domesticated cats mated, their offspring were never handled by or associated with humans, thus making their kittens feral.

Adult feral cats, that were never socialized with humans, can rarely be socialized. Feral kittens can sometimes be socialized to live with humans if they are taken from a feral colony before they are six weeks old, and four to five weeks is preferable.

Feral cats may live alone but are usually found in large groups called [[feral cat colony|feral colonies]] with communal nurseries, depending on resource availability. The [[average life span]] of a feral cat that survives beyond [[kitten]]hood is usually cited as being less than two years<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.crittercontrol.com/?doc=resources_af_cats |title=CritterControl - Cat animal facts |accessdate= 2007-04-11}}</ref>, while a [[domestication|domestic]] house cat lives an average of twelve to sixteen years.  However feral cats aged nineteen (Cat Action Trust) and twenty-six (Cats Protection) have been reported where food and shelter are available.

[[City]]scapes and [[North America]] are not native environments for cats. The domestic cat comes from [[temperate]] or hot, dry [[climate]]s and was distributed throughout the world by [[human]]s. Cats are extremely adaptable, and feral felines have been found in conditions of extreme cold and heat. They are more susceptible to cold, damp conditions than to cold alone. The domestic cat requires a diet of 90% protein, so many feral cats lack adequate nutrition{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. In addition, they have no [[self-defense|defense]] against or understanding of [[predator]]s such as [[dog]]s and [[coyote]]s. The current population of twenty to forty million feral felines in the United States is due, initially, to human interference by environmental introduction and later, by simple human irresponsibility and neglect.

==Major Places with Feral Cats==
{{Expand-section|date=January 2007}}
===United States of America===
[[Image:Girl_kitty.JPG|thumb|220px|right|Some adult feral cats can be socialized, depending on the degree of human interaction throughout their lives; feral kittens must be socialized with humans in order to be adoptable, and it is best to remove them from their mother before 6 weeks of age in order to do so. This feral cat has had the tip of one ear severed, which identifies it as having been sterilized and inoculated by a [[Trap-Neuter-Return]] program.]]

In the United States, there is an ongoing debate about how to deal with feral cat populations. There is little doubt that feral cats are extremely effective at controlling or even eradicating small animal populations, and some cite the utility of cats in controlling populations of verminous rodent species. That is one of the major justifications for the keeping of [[Farm Cat|farm cats]]. However, conservationists argue that feral cats contribute greatly to the killing of songbirds and other endangered birds, with estimates that bird loss is at 100 million a year due to predation. However research into the causes of bird deaths has also found that transparent windows constitute the biggest threat that birds face [http://www.currykerlinger.com/birds.htm]. Additionally, it is argued that the resurgence of other small predators such as the [[gray fox]] (''urocyon cinereoargenteus''), [[fisher (animal)|fisher]] or pekan (''martes pennanti''), [[coyote]] (''canis latrans''), and [[bobcat]] (''lynx rufus'') is a contributing factor in conserved bird deaths. {{Fact|date=February 2007}}

Websites such as The Feral Cat Hunt {{Fact|date=February 2007}} advocate culling feral cat populations by hunting, arguing that it is the most cost effective method of population control. However, a proposal in the state of Wisconsin to legalize the hunting of feral cats in an attempt to reduce their population (April 2005) was blocked by the state's lawmakers. South Dakota and Minnesota allow wild cats to be shot.

[[Trap-Neuter-Return]] or TNR programs, presented as a humane method of feral cat population control, are facilitated by many volunteers and organizations in the States. These organizations trap and sterilize feral cats as well as provide [[inoculation]] against [[rabies]] and other viruses. Sometimes long-lasting [[flea treatment]]s are also applied before release. Frequently, attending [[veterinarian]]s notch the tip off one [[ear]] during spay/neuter surgery to mark the individual as [[spaying and neutering|spayed or neutered]] and inoculated, as these cats will more than likely find themselves trapped again. Volunteers often continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives, unfortunately, it becomes very difficult to domesticate and adopt a feral cat unless it is trapped and socialized before six weeks of age.
[[Image:Feral_cat.jpg|thumb|150px|Feral cat with clipped ear to signify spay/neuter trap and release.]]

[[October 16]] is National Feral Cat Day in the United States.[http://www.nationalferalcatday.org/]

===Australia===
It has been suggested that feral cats have been present in [[Australia]] since before [[European]] settlement, and may have arrived with [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[shipwreck]]s in the [[17th century]]. However historical records do not suggest this, instead dating the arrival of feral cats at around 1824. <ref name="Abbot"> Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract] </ref> Intentional releases were made in the late [[19th century]] to control mice, rabbits and rats. Cats had colonised their present range in Australia by 1890. Evidence for early predation by cats having caused major and widespread declines in native fauna is circumstantial and anecdotal and its credibility and significance is debated (Abbot 2002, Dickman 1996).

Feral cats in Australia [[prey]] on a variety of wildlife. In arid and semi-arid environments [[introduced species|introduced]] [[European Rabbit]]s and [[House Mouse|House Mice]] are the dominant part of the diet; in forests and urbanised areas native [[marsupial]] prey forms the larger part of the diet (based on 22 studies summarised in Dickman 1996). In arid environments where rabbits do not occur native rodents are taken. Birds form a smaller part of the diet, mostly in forests and urbanised areas, reptiles also form just a small part of the diet.

Numerous Australian environmentalists and conservationists claim that the feral cat has been an ecological disaster in Australia, inhabiting most ecosystems except dense [[rainforest]], and being implicated in the [[extinction]] of several [[marsupial]] and [[placental]] mammal [[species]] (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Scientific evidence has been hard to come by to support this view and some researchers disagree with it (Abbot 2002). Sound evidence that feral cats exert a significant effect on native wildlife throughout the mainland is lacking (Dickman 1996; Jones 1989; Wilson et al. 1992). Difficulties in separating the effects of cats from that of [[fox]]es (also introduced) and environmental effects have hindered research into this. Cats have co-existed with all mammal species in Tasmania for nearly 200 years. Tasmania is fox free.<ref name="Abbot" /> The Western Shield program in Western Australia, involving broad-scale poisoning of foxes, has resulted in rapid recoveries of many species of native mammals in spite of the presence of feral cats throughout the baited area.<ref name="Abbot" /> However in 2005 a study was published which for the first time found proof of feral cats causing declines in native mammals (Risbey ''et al'' 2005); an [[experiment]] conducted in [[Heirisson Prong]] compared small mammal populations in areas cleared of both foxes and cats, of foxes only, and a control plot. Researchers found that mammal populations were lower in areas cleared of foxes only and in the control plots.

Cats may also play a further role in Australia's human altered ecosystems; with foxes they may be controlling introduced [[rabbit]]s, particularly in arid areas, which themselves cause ecological damage (Robley ''et al'' 2004). Cats are not believed to have been a factor in the extinction of the only mainland [[bird]] species to be lost since European settlement, the [[Paradise Parrot]]; their role in the loss of rare species on [[Australasia]]n islands, however, has been significant.

Australian Folklore has it that some feral cats in Australia have grown so large as to cause inexperienced observers to claim sightings of other species such as [[Puma]] etc. This folklore is however being shown to be more fact then fiction, with the recent shooting of an enormous Feline in the [[Gippsland]] area of [[Victoria_(Australia)]], subsequent DNA test showed the Feline to be [[Felus Catus]]<ref>"Feral Mega Cats" http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/03/australias_new_feral_mega_cats.php#more</ref>. Subsequent news stories of large Feral Cats being sighted is almost monthly in Australia and the evidence is very good to suggest a breading population of these enormous Felines in the south-eastern states of [[Victoria(Australia)]] and [[New South Wales]]<ref>"The Big Cat Files"http://www.strangenation.com.au/Articles/paulclacher.htm</ref>.

Control programs are difficult to devise due to the [[nocturnal animal|nocturnal]] and [[solitary]] nature of feral cats, broad distribution in the landscape and continuous additions to the population from abandoned domestic cats. Due to the danger posed to humans handling the animal, captured feral cats are almost always [[Pest control|killed]]. Although trap neuter and return programs such as those in the United States are not prevalent in Australia, they are now being introduced in some urban and suburban areas such as [[Adelaide]]. More recently, such programs have been introduced in [[Sydney]] by the "World League for Protection of Animals".

===Rome===
[[Rome]], [[Italy]] is perhaps the place with most feral cats, the total number being estimated between 250,000 and 350,000, organized in about 2,000 colonies, some of them living in famous ancient places such as the [[Colosseum]].[http://www.romancats.de/romancats/index_eng.php] Some historians believe, Romans' affection for cats dates from the Roman Empire's conquest of Egypt, where royalty kept cats. Others believe that Rome was spared from devastating outbreaks of the bubonic plague by the city's feral cat population, which kept Rome's rat population low thus reducing key plague carrying vector. Whatever the case, Rome's affection for stray felines remains strong.

==Feral cats and island restoration==
Feral cats [[introduced species|introduced]] to islands with [[island tameness|ecologically naive]] fauna, that is species that have not evolved or have lost predator responses for dealing with cats (Moors & Atkinson 1984), have had a devastating impact on these islands' [[biodiversity]]. They have been implicated in the extinction of several species and local extinctions, such as the [[huita]]s from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Guadalupe Storm-petrel]] from [[Pacific]] [[Mexico]]. Moors and Atkinson wrote, in 1984, "No other alien predator has had such a universally damaging effect." Given the damage they cause, many conservationists working in the field of [[island restoration]] (literally restoring damaged islands through removal of introduced species and replanting and reintroducing native species) have worked to remove feral cats. As of [[2004]], 48 islands have had their feral cat populations removed, including [[New Zealand]]'s network of offshore island bird reserves (Nogales ''et al'', [[2004]]), and Australia's [[Macquarie Island]]. Larger projects have also been undertaken, including their complete removal from [[Ascension Island]]. The cats, introduced in the 19th century, caused a collapse in populations of nesting [[seabird]]s. The project to remove them from the island began in 2002, and the island was cleared of cats by 2004. Since then seven species of seabird which had not nested on the island for a hundred years have returned.[http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2005/07/ascension.html]. In other instances the removal of cats has had unintended concequences, such as on [[Macquarie Island]] where the removal of cats caused an explosion in the number of rabbits and rats which have also harmed native seabirds (the removal of rats and rabbits is scheduled for 2007).

Feral cats, along with rabbits, some sea birds and sheep, form the entire animal population of the remote [[Kerguelen Islands]] in the southern [[Indian Ocean]].

==The Cats of Canada's Parliament==
{{main|Canadian Parliamentary Cats}}
[[Image:Catman.jpg|thumb|150px|Rene Chartrand runs a stray cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]].]]
For many years (tradition associates them with a British garrison of the 1850s), a feral cat colony has existed on Canada's [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]]. In recent years, living structures have been built for them, and they are fed by a volunteer who is given a stipend by the House of Commons. Veterinary services are donated by doctors in the city, and most of the cats are sterilized. At any given time, about fifteen cats live in the colony.
The present Canadian Prime Minister, [[Stephen Harper]], is a cat fan and takes feral kittens into his home to socialize them before they are put up for adoption in Ottawa's shelters. Visitors to his official residence can expect to be asked if they have room in their homes for a cat.

==Activism==

[[Feral cat colony|Feral cat colonies]] often arise from stray or abandoned unsterilized cats. The cats breed rapidly and have multiple-kit litters, although relatively few kittens survive to breeding age.

The conditions lived in by feral cats vary immensely. Some live short, dangerous, unhealthy, desperate lives, in deplorable conditions{{Fact|date=January 2007}}. Others are welcomed as working cats around factories and farms, and while their lives are not luxurious, some live over 10 years. Cat Action Trust has encountered ferals up to 19 years old; the record age for a feral is 26. Because of the perceived dangers to humans, other species, and the cats themselves, and out of compassion toward the animals, many people, including [[celebrity|celebrities]] such as [[Bob Barker]], campaign to encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and support the humane control of feral cats.

A growing number of animal societies realize that feral cats are wild animals and should not be judged by pet animal standards. Where the cats perform a useful task or are not a threat to the local ecology, the approach is to trap, neuter and return them to their own habitat, while removing any ill, injured or tameable individuals. 

Unfortunately, recent studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association indicate that trap-neuter-release programs are not effective in reducing feral cat populations. These programs cannot be effective unless they manage cats on a population--rather than colony--basis, neuter at least 75% of the cats in the population, and carrying capacity is reduced, usually by reducing the amount of food provided to the cats by humans.

==In Popular Culture==

In the [[Redwall]] book [[High Rhulain]] the Feral Cat Army of Green Isle is the enemy occupation force on the island of Green Isle. As in real life, the feral cat soldiers are very effective at culling birds but easily killed by [[hare]]s and [[otter]]s.

==References==
<references />
* Tabor, Roger, Arrow Books (1983). ''The Wild Life of the Domestic Cat.'' ISBN 0-09-931210-7
* Moors, P.J.; Atkinson, I.A.E. (1984). "Predation on seabirds by introduced animals, and factors affecting its severity.". In ''Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds''. Cambridge: ICBP. ISBN 0-946888-03-5.
* Nogales, Manuel ''et al'' ([[2004]]). "A review of feral cat eradication on islands". ''Conservation Biology''. '''18'''(2): 310-319. [http://www.issg.org/database/species/reference_files/felcat/Nogales%20et%20al.%202004.pdf]
* Risbey, Danielle A. ; Calver, Michael C. ; Short, Jeff ; Bradley J. Stuart and Ian W. Wright (2005) The impact of cats and foxes on the small vertebrate fauna of Heirisson Prong, Western Australia. II. A field experiment " ''Wildlife Research'' '''27'''(3): 223-235 [http://publish.csiro.au/nid/144/paper/WR98092.htm abstract]
* Robley, A., Reddiex, B., Arthur T., Pech R., and Forsyth, D., (2004). "Interactions between feral cats, foxes, native carnivores, and rabbits in Australia". Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne.
* Abbot, I. (2002) "Origin and spread of the cat, Felis catus, on mainland Australia, with a discussion of the magnitude of its early impact on native fauna" ''Wildlife Research'' '''29'''(1): 51-74 [http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/WR01011.htm abstract]
* Dickman, C. (1996) "Overview of the Impact of Feral Cats on Australian Fauna" Australian Nature Conservation Agency ISBN 0-642-21379-8 [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf whole text]

==External links==
* [http://www.alleycat.org Alley Cat Allies] Feral Cat Resource - provides information about how to deal with feral cats humanely.
* [http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/ Birds and cats: the ''Cats Indoors!'' program] (information from the American Bird Conservancy)
* [http://www.feralcat.com/ Feral Cat Coalition]
* [http://www.felineresistance.com/ The Feline Resistance]
* [http://www.indyferal.org/ IndyFeral.org]
* [http://www.cat77.org.uk/ Cat Action Trust 1977]
* [http://www.catactiontrust.org.uk/ Original Cat Action Trust]
* Defenders of Wildlife. [http://www.defenders.org/defendersmag/issues/spring03/plightsongbird.html Plight of the Vanishing Songbirds]
* [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf] Australian Department of Environment and Heritage: Overview of the impact of feral cats on native fauna (pdf)
* lovethatcat.com: [http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html List of US spay & neuter programs]
* [http://www.messybeast.com/eradicat.htm Why Extermination of Ferals is Ineffective]
* [http://www.messybeast.com/feralkit.htm#Kittens Taming Feral Kittens]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/nature_20030623.shtml Feral cats] (BBC)
*[http://www.animalsaustralia.org/default2.asp?idL1=1274&idL2=1311 Animals Australia]: Feral Cat bibliography
*[http://www.wildlife.org/policy/index.cfm?tname=policystatements&statement=ps28 Feral cats] (The Wildlife Society)
* [http://www.happytails.org happy tails]

==See also==
*[[Warriors (book series)]]

[[Category:Cat types]]
[[Category:invasive species]]

[[fr:Chat haret]]
[[nl:Verwilderde kat]]
[[ja:野良猫]]

AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key

2007-04-25T02:37:38Z

61.68.226.45: /* Some common kinship terms */

'''Australian Aboriginal [[kinship]]''' refers to the system of [[law]] governing social interaction, particularly [[marriage]], in traditional Aboriginal culture. It is an integral part of the culture of every [[List of Indigenous Australian group names|Aboriginal group]] across Australia.

The main element is the division of [[clan]]s within the same language group into ''skin groups'', or [[moiety|moieties]]. In its simplest form, clans are divided into two skin groups. There may be four divisions (see [[Martu (Indigenous Australian)|Martu]]), while more complex systems can be divided into eight (see [[Pintupi]] and below).

The system dictates who may [[marry]] whom – it is always [[taboo]] to marry into your own skin group – creating strong [[incest]] avoidance laws and strong bonds across [[clan]]s through [[exogamous]] relations. While it can be determined at birth who will marry whom, [[love marriage]]s were not uncommon, so long as they were within the skin system.

This system is invaluable, especially during [[drought]] or lack of resources, having [[cousin]]s and skin sisters and brothers in other clans. It also creates obligations to care for those people in their time of need. Even in [[Marn Grook|traditional ball games]], teams were divided along these lines.

Each skin group has certain [[totem]]s associated with it. Some Aboriginal groups, such as the [[Yolngu]], include plants, animals and all aspects of the environment, as part of their respective skin groups.

A person of the same skin group, of the same generation, is called "brother" or "sister". There are names for maternal aunts and uncles and different names for paternal aunts and uncles. Additionally, there are strong [[Australian Aboriginal avoidance relationships|avoidance relationships]] that need to be observed based on this system.

==Some common kinship terms==
{{main|Australian Aboriginal English}}

*''Aunty'' and ''uncle'' are used as terms of address for older people, to whom the speaker may not be related.
*''Brother'' and ''sister'' include close relatives of the same generation, not just siblings.
*''Cousin'' includes any relative of one's own generation.
*The combinations ''cousin-brother'' and ''cousin-sister'' are used to refer to biological cousins.
*In south-east Queensland, ''daughter'' is used to refer any woman of one's great-grandparents' generation. This is due to the cyclical nature of traditional kinship systems.
*''Father'' and ''mother'' include any relative of one's parents' generation, such as uncles, aunts, and in-laws.
*''Grandfather'' and ''grandmother'' can refer to anyone of one's grandparents' generation. ''Grandfather'' can also refer to any respected elderly man, to whom the speaker may not be related.
*''Poison'' refers to a relation one is obligated to avoid. See ''[[Mother-in-law language]]''.
*The term ''second'', or ''little bit'' in northern Australia, is used with a distant relative who is described using a close kinship term. For example, one's ''second fathers'' or ''little bit fathers'' are men of one's father's generation not closely related to the speaker. It is contrasted with ''close'', ''near'' or ''true''.
*A ''skin'' or ''skin group'' are sections which are determined by the skin of a person's parents, and determine who a person is eligible to marry.
*''Son'' can refer to any male of the next generation, such as nephews.

The skin group classification is [[cyclical]] in nature, changing with each [[generation]]. Non-Aboriginal people are often confounded to hear Aborigines refer to their great-[[grandmother]] as their [[daughter]], or their great-[[grandaughter]] as their mother. They are actually referring to the fact that those relatives are in the same skin group, as well as acknowledging the cyclical nature of the system.

For traditionally oriented Aborigines, this system is a major foundation of their existence and way of viewing the world. As such, if a non-Aboriginal person is around their culture for any extended period, they must be [[adoption|adopted]]. This is not strictly adoption in the Western sense, but the assignation of a skin name so that that individual has a skin group and may interact with people in the "proper way"; knowing whom to [[Australian Aboriginal avoidance customs|avoid]], whom to call sister, etc.

Many Aboriginal groups, particularly in the southeast of Australia, have lost this knowledge due to their [[Stolen generation|forced removal]] to [[mission (station)|mission]]s and [[orphanage|children's homes]], where many language groups mixed with each other, and Aboriginal language and cultural practice was forbidden.

Below are a few examples of different kinship systems from across Australia:

==Systems with two skin groups==

===Pitjantjatjara===
The [[Pitjantjatjara]] of northern [[South Australia]] have two [[moiety]] groups:

:'''''ngana nt arka''''' (lit. we-bone) 'our side'
:'''''tjanamilytjan''''' (lit. they flesh) 'their side'

However, they do not use skin names.

===Yolŋu===
For the [[Yolŋu]] of north-east [[Arnhem Land]], life is divided into two skin groups: ''Dhuwa'' and ''Yirritja''. Each of these is represented by people of a number of different groups, each with their own lands, languages and philosophies:

:::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
! Skin name
! Clan groups
|-
|'''''Yirritja'''''
| Gumatj, Gupapuyngu, Wangurri, Ritharrngu, Mangalili, Munyuku, Madarrpa, Warramiri, Dhalwangu, Liyalanmirri.
|-
|'''''Dhuwa'''''
|Rirratjingu, Galpu, Djambarrpuyngu, Golumala, Marrakulu, Marrangu, Djapu, Datiwuy, Ngaymil, Djarrwark.
|}

A ''Yirritja'' person must always marry a ''Dhuwa'' person and vice versa. If a man or woman is ''Dhuwa'', their mother will be ''Yirritja'' and their father will be ''Dhuwa''. In cases where marriage does not adhere to the skin system, if a ''Yirritja'' man marries a ''Yirritja'' woman, for instance, the children take the skin that is opposite to their mother rather than the same skin as their father. The children of such a marriage will be ''Dhuwa''.

Kinship relations are also mapped onto the lands owned by the Yolngu through their [[hereditary]] [[Estate (law)|estates]] – so everything is either ''Yirritja'' or ''Dhuwa'' – every fish, stone, river, etc, belongs to one or the other [[moiety]].

==Systems with eight skin groups==

===Lardiil===
The [[Lardiil]] of [[Mornington Island]] in the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]] have eight skin groups, shown here with some of their totems:
{{sectstub}}
::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
!Male skin group
!Totems
!Can only marry female skin group
!Children will be
|-
|Ngarrijbalangi
|''Rainbird, shooting star, egret''
|Burrarangi
|Bangariny
|-
|Bangariny
|''Brown hark, turtle''
|Yakimarr
|Ngarrijbalangi
|-
|Buranyi
|''Crane, salt water, sleeping turtle''
|Kangal
|
|-
|Balyarriny
|''Black tiger shark, sea turtle''
|Kamarrangi
|
|-
|Burrarangi
|''Lightning, rough sea, black dingo''
|Ngarrijbalangi
|
|-
|Yakimarr
|Seagull, barramundi, grey shark
|Bangariny
|
|-
|Kangal
|''[[Barramundi]], grey shark''
|Buranyi
|
|-
|Kamarrangi
|''Rock, pelican, [[brolga]], red dingo''
|Balyarriny
|
|}

Each Lardiil person belongs to one of these groups. Their paternal [[grandfather]]'s skin group determines their own; so a Balyarriny man or woman will have a Balyarriny grandfather. A Ngarrijbalangi person can only marry a Burrarangi, a Bangariny a Yakimarr, a Buranyi a Kangal and a Balyarriny a Kamarrangi, and vice versa for each.

Once a person's skin group is known, their relationship to any other Lardiil can be determined. A Ngarrijbalangi is a 'father' to a Bangariny, a 'father-in-law' to a Yakimarr and a 'son' to another Bangariny, either in a social sense or purely through linearship.

The mechanics of the Lardiil skin system means that generations of males cycle back and forth between two skins. ''Ngarrijbalangi'' is father to ''Bangariny'' and ''Bangariny'' is father to ''Ngarrijbalangi'' and similarly for the three other sets of skins. Generations of women, however, cycle through four skins before arriving back at the starting point. This means that a woman has the same skin name as her great-great-grandmother.

===Pintupi===
The [[Pintupi]] of the [[Western Desert (Australia)|Western Desert]] also have eight skin groups, made more complex by distinct prefixes for male and female skin names; "Tj" for males, "N" for females. The [[Warlpiri]] system is almost the same:

:::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
!Gender
!Skin name
!First marriage preference
!Children will be
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapaltjarri
|Nakamarra
|Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napaltjarri
|Tjakamarra
|Tjupurrula, Napurrula
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapangati
|Nampitjinpa
|Tjapanangka, Napanangka
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napangati
|Tjampitjinpa
|Tjangala, Nangala
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjakamarra
|Napaltjarri
|Tjupurrula, Napurrula
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nakamarra
|Tjapaltjarri
|Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjampitjinpa
|Napangati
|Tjangala, Nangala
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nampitjinpa
|Tjapangati
|Tjapanangka, Napanangka
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapanangka
|Napurrula
|Tjapangati, Napangati
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napanangka
|Tjupurrula
|Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjungurrayi
|Nangala
|Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nungurrayi
|Tjangala
|Tampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjupurrula
|Napanangka
|Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napurrula
|Tjapanangka
|Tjapangati, Napangati
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjangala
|Nungurrayi
|Tjampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nangala
|Tjungarayyi
|Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
|}

Each person therefore has a [[patriline|patrimoiety]] and a [[matriline|matrimoiety]], a father's and a mother's skin group.

==See also==
*[[Australian Aboriginal avoidance relationships]]
*[[Australian Aboriginal English]]
*[[List of Indigenous Australian group names]]
*[[Noongar classification]]
*[[Warlpiri#kinship|Warlpiri kinship]]

==References==
*Binnion, Joan (1979) ''The Lardil People of Mornington Island (Student Handbook)'', Aboriginal Community College, Port Adelaide.
*Hansen, Kenneth C. and Lesley E. Hansen, 1979, ''Pintupi/Luritja kinship'', Alice Springs, NT, Institute for Aboriginal Development.
*[http://ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/ Ausanthrop kinship tutorial]
*[http://www.ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/kinship2.php Ausanthrop]
*[http://www.clc.org.au/ourculture/kinship.asp Central Land Council]

[[Category:Australian Aboriginal culture|Kinship]]
[[Category:Anthropology|Australian Aboriginal kinship]]
[[Category:Sociology|Australian Aboriginal Kinship]]
[[Category:Indigenous Australians|Kinship]]
[[Category:Marriage|Australian Aboriginal Kinship]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases|Kinship]]

AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key

2007-04-25T02:36:48Z

61.68.226.45: /* Some common kinship terms */

'''Australian Aboriginal [[kinship]]''' refers to the system of [[law]] governing social interaction, particularly [[marriage]], in traditional Aboriginal culture. It is an integral part of the culture of every [[List of Indigenous Australian group names|Aboriginal group]] across Australia.

The main element is the division of [[clan]]s within the same language group into ''skin groups'', or [[moiety|moieties]]. In its simplest form, clans are divided into two skin groups. There may be four divisions (see [[Martu (Indigenous Australian)|Martu]]), while more complex systems can be divided into eight (see [[Pintupi]] and below).

The system dictates who may [[marry]] whom – it is always [[taboo]] to marry into your own skin group – creating strong [[incest]] avoidance laws and strong bonds across [[clan]]s through [[exogamous]] relations. While it can be determined at birth who will marry whom, [[love marriage]]s were not uncommon, so long as they were within the skin system.

This system is invaluable, especially during [[drought]] or lack of resources, having [[cousin]]s and skin sisters and brothers in other clans. It also creates obligations to care for those people in their time of need. Even in [[Marn Grook|traditional ball games]], teams were divided along these lines.

Each skin group has certain [[totem]]s associated with it. Some Aboriginal groups, such as the [[Yolngu]], include plants, animals and all aspects of the environment, as part of their respective skin groups.

A person of the same skin group, of the same generation, is called "brother" or "sister". There are names for maternal aunts and uncles and different names for paternal aunts and uncles. Additionally, there are strong [[Australian Aboriginal avoidance relationships|avoidance relationships]] that need to be observed based on this system.

==Some common kinship terms==
{{main|Australian Aboriginal English}}

*''Aunty'' and ''uncle'' are used as terms of address for older people, to whom the speaker may not be related.
*''Brother'' and ''sister'' include close relatives of the same generation, not just siblings.
*''Cousin'' includes any relative of one's own generation.
*The combinations ''cousin-brother'' and ''cousin-sister'' are used to refer to biological cousins.
*In south-east Queensland, ''daughter'' is used to refer any woman of one's great-grandparents' generation. This is due to the cyclical nature of traditional kinship systems.
*''Father'' and ''mother'' include any relative of one's parents' generation, such as uncles, aunts, and in-laws.
*''Grandfather'' and ''grandmother'' can refer to anyone of one's grandparents' generation. ''Grandfather'' can also refer to any respected elderly man, to whom the speaker may not be related.
*''Poison'' refers to a relation one is obligated to avoid. See ''[[Mother-in-law language]]''.
*The term ''second'', or ''little bit'' in northern Australia, is used with a distant relative who is described using a close kinship term. For example, one's ''second fathers'' or ''little bit fathers'' are men of one's father's generation not closely related to the speaker. It is contrasted with ''close'', ''near'' or ''true''.
*A ''skin'' or ''skin group'' are sections which are determined by the skin of a person's parents, and determine who a person is eligible to marry.
*''Son'' can refer to any male of the next generation, such as nephews.

The skin group classification is [[cyclical]] in nature, changing with each [[generation]]. Non-Aboriginal people are often confounded to hear Aborigines refer to their great-[[grandmother]] as their [[daughter]], or their great-[[grandaughter]] as their mother. They are actually referring to the fact that those relatives are in the same skin group, as well as acknowledging the cyclical nature of the system.

For traditionally oriented Aborigines, this system is a major foundation of their existence and way of viewing the world. As such, if a non-Aboriginal person is around their culture for any extended period, they must be [[adoption|adopted]]. This is not strictly adoption in the Western sense, but the assignation of a skin name so that that individual has a skin group and may interact with people in the "proper way"; knowing whom to avoid, whom to call sister, etc.

Many Aboriginal groups, particularly in the southeast of Australia, have lost this knowledge due to their [[Stolen generation|forced removal]] to [[mission (station)|mission]]s and [[orphanage|children's homes]], where many language groups mixed with each other, and Aboriginal language and cultural practice was forbidden.

Below are a few examples of different kinship systems from across Australia:

==Systems with two skin groups==

===Pitjantjatjara===
The [[Pitjantjatjara]] of northern [[South Australia]] have two [[moiety]] groups:

:'''''ngana nt arka''''' (lit. we-bone) 'our side'
:'''''tjanamilytjan''''' (lit. they flesh) 'their side'

However, they do not use skin names.

===Yolŋu===
For the [[Yolŋu]] of north-east [[Arnhem Land]], life is divided into two skin groups: ''Dhuwa'' and ''Yirritja''. Each of these is represented by people of a number of different groups, each with their own lands, languages and philosophies:

:::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
! Skin name
! Clan groups
|-
|'''''Yirritja'''''
| Gumatj, Gupapuyngu, Wangurri, Ritharrngu, Mangalili, Munyuku, Madarrpa, Warramiri, Dhalwangu, Liyalanmirri.
|-
|'''''Dhuwa'''''
|Rirratjingu, Galpu, Djambarrpuyngu, Golumala, Marrakulu, Marrangu, Djapu, Datiwuy, Ngaymil, Djarrwark.
|}

A ''Yirritja'' person must always marry a ''Dhuwa'' person and vice versa. If a man or woman is ''Dhuwa'', their mother will be ''Yirritja'' and their father will be ''Dhuwa''. In cases where marriage does not adhere to the skin system, if a ''Yirritja'' man marries a ''Yirritja'' woman, for instance, the children take the skin that is opposite to their mother rather than the same skin as their father. The children of such a marriage will be ''Dhuwa''.

Kinship relations are also mapped onto the lands owned by the Yolngu through their [[hereditary]] [[Estate (law)|estates]] – so everything is either ''Yirritja'' or ''Dhuwa'' – every fish, stone, river, etc, belongs to one or the other [[moiety]].

==Systems with eight skin groups==

===Lardiil===
The [[Lardiil]] of [[Mornington Island]] in the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]] have eight skin groups, shown here with some of their totems:
{{sectstub}}
::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
!Male skin group
!Totems
!Can only marry female skin group
!Children will be
|-
|Ngarrijbalangi
|''Rainbird, shooting star, egret''
|Burrarangi
|Bangariny
|-
|Bangariny
|''Brown hark, turtle''
|Yakimarr
|Ngarrijbalangi
|-
|Buranyi
|''Crane, salt water, sleeping turtle''
|Kangal
|
|-
|Balyarriny
|''Black tiger shark, sea turtle''
|Kamarrangi
|
|-
|Burrarangi
|''Lightning, rough sea, black dingo''
|Ngarrijbalangi
|
|-
|Yakimarr
|Seagull, barramundi, grey shark
|Bangariny
|
|-
|Kangal
|''[[Barramundi]], grey shark''
|Buranyi
|
|-
|Kamarrangi
|''Rock, pelican, [[brolga]], red dingo''
|Balyarriny
|
|}

Each Lardiil person belongs to one of these groups. Their paternal [[grandfather]]'s skin group determines their own; so a Balyarriny man or woman will have a Balyarriny grandfather. A Ngarrijbalangi person can only marry a Burrarangi, a Bangariny a Yakimarr, a Buranyi a Kangal and a Balyarriny a Kamarrangi, and vice versa for each.

Once a person's skin group is known, their relationship to any other Lardiil can be determined. A Ngarrijbalangi is a 'father' to a Bangariny, a 'father-in-law' to a Yakimarr and a 'son' to another Bangariny, either in a social sense or purely through linearship.

The mechanics of the Lardiil skin system means that generations of males cycle back and forth between two skins. ''Ngarrijbalangi'' is father to ''Bangariny'' and ''Bangariny'' is father to ''Ngarrijbalangi'' and similarly for the three other sets of skins. Generations of women, however, cycle through four skins before arriving back at the starting point. This means that a woman has the same skin name as her great-great-grandmother.

===Pintupi===
The [[Pintupi]] of the [[Western Desert (Australia)|Western Desert]] also have eight skin groups, made more complex by distinct prefixes for male and female skin names; "Tj" for males, "N" for females. The [[Warlpiri]] system is almost the same:

:::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
!Gender
!Skin name
!First marriage preference
!Children will be
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapaltjarri
|Nakamarra
|Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napaltjarri
|Tjakamarra
|Tjupurrula, Napurrula
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapangati
|Nampitjinpa
|Tjapanangka, Napanangka
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napangati
|Tjampitjinpa
|Tjangala, Nangala
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjakamarra
|Napaltjarri
|Tjupurrula, Napurrula
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nakamarra
|Tjapaltjarri
|Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjampitjinpa
|Napangati
|Tjangala, Nangala
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nampitjinpa
|Tjapangati
|Tjapanangka, Napanangka
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapanangka
|Napurrula
|Tjapangati, Napangati
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napanangka
|Tjupurrula
|Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjungurrayi
|Nangala
|Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nungurrayi
|Tjangala
|Tampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjupurrula
|Napanangka
|Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napurrula
|Tjapanangka
|Tjapangati, Napangati
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjangala
|Nungurrayi
|Tjampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nangala
|Tjungarayyi
|Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
|}

Each person therefore has a [[patriline|patrimoiety]] and a [[matriline|matrimoiety]], a father's and a mother's skin group.

==See also==
*[[Australian Aboriginal avoidance relationships]]
*[[Australian Aboriginal English]]
*[[List of Indigenous Australian group names]]
*[[Noongar classification]]
*[[Warlpiri#kinship|Warlpiri kinship]]

==References==
*Binnion, Joan (1979) ''The Lardil People of Mornington Island (Student Handbook)'', Aboriginal Community College, Port Adelaide.
*Hansen, Kenneth C. and Lesley E. Hansen, 1979, ''Pintupi/Luritja kinship'', Alice Springs, NT, Institute for Aboriginal Development.
*[http://ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/ Ausanthrop kinship tutorial]
*[http://www.ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/kinship2.php Ausanthrop]
*[http://www.clc.org.au/ourculture/kinship.asp Central Land Council]

[[Category:Australian Aboriginal culture|Kinship]]
[[Category:Anthropology|Australian Aboriginal kinship]]
[[Category:Sociology|Australian Aboriginal Kinship]]
[[Category:Indigenous Australians|Kinship]]
[[Category:Marriage|Australian Aboriginal Kinship]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases|Kinship]]

AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key

2007-04-25T02:35:59Z

61.68.226.45: /* Some common kinship terms */

'''Australian Aboriginal [[kinship]]''' refers to the system of [[law]] governing social interaction, particularly [[marriage]], in traditional Aboriginal culture. It is an integral part of the culture of every [[List of Indigenous Australian group names|Aboriginal group]] across Australia.

The main element is the division of [[clan]]s within the same language group into ''skin groups'', or [[moiety|moieties]]. In its simplest form, clans are divided into two skin groups. There may be four divisions (see [[Martu (Indigenous Australian)|Martu]]), while more complex systems can be divided into eight (see [[Pintupi]] and below).

The system dictates who may [[marry]] whom – it is always [[taboo]] to marry into your own skin group – creating strong [[incest]] avoidance laws and strong bonds across [[clan]]s through [[exogamous]] relations. While it can be determined at birth who will marry whom, [[love marriage]]s were not uncommon, so long as they were within the skin system.

This system is invaluable, especially during [[drought]] or lack of resources, having [[cousin]]s and skin sisters and brothers in other clans. It also creates obligations to care for those people in their time of need. Even in [[Marn Grook|traditional ball games]], teams were divided along these lines.

Each skin group has certain [[totem]]s associated with it. Some Aboriginal groups, such as the [[Yolngu]], include plants, animals and all aspects of the environment, as part of their respective skin groups.

A person of the same skin group, of the same generation, is called "brother" or "sister". There are names for maternal aunts and uncles and different names for paternal aunts and uncles. Additionally, there are strong [[Australian Aboriginal avoidance relationships|avoidance relationships]] that need to be observed based on this system.

==Some common kinship terms==
{{main|Australian Aboriginal English}}

*''Aunty'' and ''uncle'' are used as terms of address for older people, to whom the speaker may not be related.
*''Brother'' and ''sister'' include close relatives of the same generation, not just siblings.
*''Cousin'' includes any relative of one's own generation.
*The combinations ''cousin-brother'' and ''cousin-sister'' are used to refer to biological cousins.
*In south-east Queensland, ''daughter'' is used to refer any woman of one's great-grandparents' generation. This is due to the cyclical nature of traditional kinship systems.
*''Father'' and ''mother'' include any relative of one's parents' generation, such as uncles, aunts, and in-laws.
*''Grandfather'' and ''grandmother'' can refer to anyone of one's grandparents' generation. ''Grandfather'' can also refer to any respected elderly man, to whom the speaker may not be related.
*''Poison'' refers to a relation one is obligated to avoid. See ''[[Mother-in-law language]]''.
*The term ''second'', or ''little bit'' in northern Australia, is used with a distant relative who is described using a close kinship term. For example, one's ''second fathers'' or ''little bit fathers'' are men of one's father's generation not closely related to the speaker. It is contrasted with ''close'', ''near'' or ''true''.
*A ''skin'' or ''skin group'' are sections which are determined by the skin of a person's parents, and determine who a person is eligible to marry.
*''Son'' can refer to any male of the next generation, such as nephews.

The skin group classification is [[cyclical]] in nature, changing with each [[generation]]. Non-Aboriginal people are often confounded to hear Aborigines refer to their great-[[grandmother]] as their [[daughter]], or their great-[[grandaughter]] as their mother. They are actually referring to the fact that those relatives are in the same skin group, as well as acknowledging the cyclical nature of the system.

For traditionally oriented Aborigines, this system is a major foundation of their existence and way of viewing the world. As such, if a non-Aboriginal person is around their culture for any extended period, they must be [[adoption|adopted]]. This is not strictly adoption in the Western sense, but the assignation of a skin name so that individual has a skin group and may interact with the group in the "proper way"; knowing whom to avoid, whom to call sister, etc.

Many Aboriginal groups, particularly in the southeast of Australia, have lost this knowledge due to their [[Stolen generation|forced removal]] to [[mission (station)|mission]]s and [[orphanage|children's homes]], where many language groups mixed with each other, and Aboriginal language and cultural practice was forbidden.

Below are a few examples of different kinship systems from across Australia:

==Systems with two skin groups==

===Pitjantjatjara===
The [[Pitjantjatjara]] of northern [[South Australia]] have two [[moiety]] groups:

:'''''ngana nt arka''''' (lit. we-bone) 'our side'
:'''''tjanamilytjan''''' (lit. they flesh) 'their side'

However, they do not use skin names.

===Yolŋu===
For the [[Yolŋu]] of north-east [[Arnhem Land]], life is divided into two skin groups: ''Dhuwa'' and ''Yirritja''. Each of these is represented by people of a number of different groups, each with their own lands, languages and philosophies:

:::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
! Skin name
! Clan groups
|-
|'''''Yirritja'''''
| Gumatj, Gupapuyngu, Wangurri, Ritharrngu, Mangalili, Munyuku, Madarrpa, Warramiri, Dhalwangu, Liyalanmirri.
|-
|'''''Dhuwa'''''
|Rirratjingu, Galpu, Djambarrpuyngu, Golumala, Marrakulu, Marrangu, Djapu, Datiwuy, Ngaymil, Djarrwark.
|}

A ''Yirritja'' person must always marry a ''Dhuwa'' person and vice versa. If a man or woman is ''Dhuwa'', their mother will be ''Yirritja'' and their father will be ''Dhuwa''. In cases where marriage does not adhere to the skin system, if a ''Yirritja'' man marries a ''Yirritja'' woman, for instance, the children take the skin that is opposite to their mother rather than the same skin as their father. The children of such a marriage will be ''Dhuwa''.

Kinship relations are also mapped onto the lands owned by the Yolngu through their [[hereditary]] [[Estate (law)|estates]] – so everything is either ''Yirritja'' or ''Dhuwa'' – every fish, stone, river, etc, belongs to one or the other [[moiety]].

==Systems with eight skin groups==

===Lardiil===
The [[Lardiil]] of [[Mornington Island]] in the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]] have eight skin groups, shown here with some of their totems:
{{sectstub}}
::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
!Male skin group
!Totems
!Can only marry female skin group
!Children will be
|-
|Ngarrijbalangi
|''Rainbird, shooting star, egret''
|Burrarangi
|Bangariny
|-
|Bangariny
|''Brown hark, turtle''
|Yakimarr
|Ngarrijbalangi
|-
|Buranyi
|''Crane, salt water, sleeping turtle''
|Kangal
|
|-
|Balyarriny
|''Black tiger shark, sea turtle''
|Kamarrangi
|
|-
|Burrarangi
|''Lightning, rough sea, black dingo''
|Ngarrijbalangi
|
|-
|Yakimarr
|Seagull, barramundi, grey shark
|Bangariny
|
|-
|Kangal
|''[[Barramundi]], grey shark''
|Buranyi
|
|-
|Kamarrangi
|''Rock, pelican, [[brolga]], red dingo''
|Balyarriny
|
|}

Each Lardiil person belongs to one of these groups. Their paternal [[grandfather]]'s skin group determines their own; so a Balyarriny man or woman will have a Balyarriny grandfather. A Ngarrijbalangi person can only marry a Burrarangi, a Bangariny a Yakimarr, a Buranyi a Kangal and a Balyarriny a Kamarrangi, and vice versa for each.

Once a person's skin group is known, their relationship to any other Lardiil can be determined. A Ngarrijbalangi is a 'father' to a Bangariny, a 'father-in-law' to a Yakimarr and a 'son' to another Bangariny, either in a social sense or purely through linearship.

The mechanics of the Lardiil skin system means that generations of males cycle back and forth between two skins. ''Ngarrijbalangi'' is father to ''Bangariny'' and ''Bangariny'' is father to ''Ngarrijbalangi'' and similarly for the three other sets of skins. Generations of women, however, cycle through four skins before arriving back at the starting point. This means that a woman has the same skin name as her great-great-grandmother.

===Pintupi===
The [[Pintupi]] of the [[Western Desert (Australia)|Western Desert]] also have eight skin groups, made more complex by distinct prefixes for male and female skin names; "Tj" for males, "N" for females. The [[Warlpiri]] system is almost the same:

:::{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor=#efefef
!Gender
!Skin name
!First marriage preference
!Children will be
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapaltjarri
|Nakamarra
|Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napaltjarri
|Tjakamarra
|Tjupurrula, Napurrula
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapangati
|Nampitjinpa
|Tjapanangka, Napanangka
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napangati
|Tjampitjinpa
|Tjangala, Nangala
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjakamarra
|Napaltjarri
|Tjupurrula, Napurrula
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nakamarra
|Tjapaltjarri
|Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjampitjinpa
|Napangati
|Tjangala, Nangala
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nampitjinpa
|Tjapangati
|Tjapanangka, Napanangka
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjapanangka
|Napurrula
|Tjapangati, Napangati
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napanangka
|Tjupurrula
|Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjungurrayi
|Nangala
|Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nungurrayi
|Tjangala
|Tampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjupurrula
|Napanangka
|Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
|-
|'''Female'''
|Napurrula
|Tjapanangka
|Tjapangati, Napangati
|-
|'''Male'''
|Tjangala
|Nungurrayi
|Tjampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
|-
|'''Female'''
|Nangala
|Tjungarayyi
|Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
|}

Each person therefore has a [[patriline|patrimoiety]] and a [[matriline|matrimoiety]], a father's and a mother's skin group.

==See also==
*[[Australian Aboriginal avoidance relationships]]
*[[Australian Aboriginal English]]
*[[List of Indigenous Australian group names]]
*[[Noongar classification]]
*[[Warlpiri#kinship|Warlpiri kinship]]

==References==
*Binnion, Joan (1979) ''The Lardil People of Mornington Island (Student Handbook)'', Aboriginal Community College, Port Adelaide.
*Hansen, Kenneth C. and Lesley E. Hansen, 1979, ''Pintupi/Luritja kinship'', Alice Springs, NT, Institute for Aboriginal Development.
*[http://ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/ Ausanthrop kinship tutorial]
*[http://www.ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/kinship2.php Ausanthrop]
*[http://www.clc.org.au/ourculture/kinship.asp Central Land Council]

[[Category:Australian Aboriginal culture|Kinship]]
[[Category:Anthropology|Australian Aboriginal kinship]]
[[Category:Sociology|Australian Aboriginal Kinship]]
[[Category:Indigenous Australians|Kinship]]
[[Category:Marriage|Australian Aboriginal Kinship]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases|Kinship]]

AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key

2007-04-25T02:34:09Z

61.68.226.45: /* Eye-witness accounts */

'''Marn Grook''' (also spelt ''marngrook'') is an [[Australian Aborigine|Australian Aboriginal]] ball game, and is said to have had an influence on the modern game of [[Australian rules football]], most notably in the spectacular jumping and [[Mark (Australian football)|high marking]] exhibited by the players of both games.

Marn Grook, literally meaning "Game ball", was a traditional game played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players by the [[Gunditjmara|Djabwurrung]] and [http://www2.visitvictoria.com/displayObject.cfm/ObjectID.00043955-3A4A-1A66-88CD80C476A90318/vvt.vhtml Jardwadjali] people of western [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]].

== Eye-witness accounts ==
[[Robert Brough-Smyth]], in an [[1878]] book ''The Aborigines of Victoria'', quoted Richard Thomas, a [[Protector of Aborigines]] in Victoria, who stated that in about [[1841]] he had witnessed Aborigines playing the game.
:''The men and boys joyfully assemble when this game is to be played. One makes a ball of [[possum]] skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong. The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kicks it with his foot. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. The person who secures the ball kicks it. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise.''
In [[1889]], anthropologist [[Alfred Howitt]], wrote that the game was played between large groups on a [[totemic]] basis — the white [[cockatoo]]s versus the black cockatoos, for example, which accorded with their [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|skin system]]. Acclaim and recognition went to the players who could leap or kick the highest. Howitt wrote:
:''This game of ball-playing was also practised among the [[Kurnai]], the Wolgal ([[Tumut]] river people), the Wotjoballuk as well as by the [[Wurundjeri|Woiworung]], and was probably known to most tribes of south-eastern Australia. The Kurnai made the ball from the [[scrotum]] of an "old man [[kangaroo]]", the Woiworung made it of tightly rolled up pieces of [[possum|opossum]] skin. It was called by them "mangurt". In this tribe the two [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|exogamous divisions]], [[Bunjil]] and Waa, played on opposite sides. The Wotjoballuk also played this game, with Krokitch on one side and Gamutch on the other. The mangurt was sent as a token of friendship from one to another.<ref>AW Howitt, "Notes on Australian Message Sticks and Messengers", ''Journal of the Anthropological Institute'', London, 1889, p 2, note 4, Reprinted by Ngarak Press, 1998, ISBN 1-875254-25-0</ref>

[[Tom Wills]], who drew up the rules of Australian rules football in [[1858]]-59, was raised in Victoria's western districts and is said to have played with local Aboriginal children. He recalled watching a game in which they kicked a [[possum]] skin about the size of an orange, stuffed with charcoal.<ref>http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/MediaRelArc02.nsf/17ed9415cb17e3d34a25682500254734/67d1f54851b3304b4a256965007bb637!OpenDocument&Click=</ref>

== Marn Grook and the football term "mark" ==
Some claim that the origin of the [[Australian rules]] term "[[Mark (Australian football)|mark]]", meaning a clean, [[fair catch]] of a kicked ball, followed by a [[free kick]], is derived from the Aboriginal word "''mumarki''" used in ''Marn Grook'', and meaning "to catch".<ref>http://www.footystamps.com/ot_early_history.htm</ref><ref>http://www.aboriginalfootball.com.au/marngrook.html</ref> However, many believe that this is a [[false etymology]] and that the term instead came from the practice — in old and/or extinct [[football|British football codes]] — of a player who had caught the ball ''marking'' the ground with a foot, to show where the catch had been taken, and calling "mark" to be awarded a free kick. The term mark has been used in modern football codes since the 1830s, notably in [[rugby football]] and early [[Association football]] (soccer). It is still used in [[rugby union]], in reference to a fair catch by a player who calls "mark" when catching a ball inside their team's 22 metre line.

== The "Marngrook Trophy" ==

In [[2002]], in a game at [[Stadium Australia]], the [[Sydney Swans]] and [[Essendon Football Club]] began to compete for the '''''Marngrook Trophy''''', awarded after home-and-away matches each year between the two teams in the [[Australian Football League]]. However, the games are played under normal rules of the AFL, rather than anything approaching Marn Grook.

==References==
<div class="references-small"><references /></div>

== External links ==
* [http://www.aboriginalfootball.com.au/marngrook.html AboriginalFootball.com, "Marn Grook"]

[[Category:Australian Aboriginal culture]]
[[Category:Australian rules football]]
[[Category:Sport in Australia]]
[[Category:Traditional football]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases]]

AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key

2007-04-25T02:27:43Z

61.68.226.45:

'''Marn Grook''' (also spelt ''marngrook'') is an [[Australian Aborigine|Australian Aboriginal]] ball game, and is said to have had an influence on the modern game of [[Australian rules football]], most notably in the spectacular jumping and [[Mark (Australian football)|high marking]] exhibited by the players of both games.

Marn Grook, literally meaning "Game ball", was a traditional game played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players by the [[Gunditjmara|Djabwurrung]] and [http://www2.visitvictoria.com/displayObject.cfm/ObjectID.00043955-3A4A-1A66-88CD80C476A90318/vvt.vhtml Jardwadjali] people of western [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]].

== Eye-witness accounts ==
[[Robert Brough-Smyth]], in an [[1878]] book ''The Aborigines of Victoria'', quoted Richard Thomas, a [[Protector of Aborigines]] in Victoria, who stated that in about [[1841]] he had witnessed Aborigines playing the game.
:''The men and boys joyfully assemble when this game is to be played. One makes a ball of [[possum]] skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong. The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kicks it with his foot. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. The person who secures the ball kicks it. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise.''
In [[1889]], anthropologist [[Alfred Howitt]], wrote that the game was played between large groups on a [[totemic]] basis — the white [[cockatoo]]s versus the black cockatoos, for example, which accorded with their [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|skin system]]. Acclaim and recognition went to the players who could leap or kick the highest. Howitt wrote:
:''This game of ball-playing was also practised among the [[Kurnai]], the Wolgal ([[Tumut]] river people), the Wotjoballuk as well as by the [[Wurundjeri|Woiworung]], and was probably known to most tribes of south-eastern Australia. The Kurnai made the ball from the [[scrotum]] of an "old man [[kangaroo]]", the Woiworung made it of tightly rolled up pieces of [[possum|opossum]] skin. It was called by them "mangurt". In this tribe the two [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|exogamous divisions]], [[Bunjil]] and Waa, played on opposite sides. The Wotjoballuk also played this game, with Krokitch on one side and Gamutch on the other. The mangurt was sent as a token of friendship from one to another.<ref>AW Howitt, "Notes on Australian Message Sticks and Messengers", ''Journal of the Anthropological Institute'', London, 1889, p 2, note 4, Reprinted by Ngarak Press, 1998, ISBN 1-875254-25-0</ref>

[[Tom Wills]], who drew up the rules of Australian rules football in [[1858]]-59, was raised in Victoria's western districts and is said to have played with local Aboriginal children.<ref>http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/MediaRelArc02.nsf/17ed9415cb17e3d34a25682500254734/67d1f54851b3304b4a256965007bb637!OpenDocument&Click=</ref> He recalled watching a game in which they kicked a [[possum]] skin about the size of an orange, stuffed with charcoal.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}

== Marn Grook and the football term "mark" ==
Some claim that the origin of the [[Australian rules]] term "[[Mark (Australian football)|mark]]", meaning a clean, [[fair catch]] of a kicked ball, followed by a [[free kick]], is derived from the Aboriginal word "''mumarki''" used in ''Marn Grook'', and meaning "to catch".<ref>http://www.footystamps.com/ot_early_history.htm</ref><ref>http://www.aboriginalfootball.com.au/marngrook.html</ref> However, many believe that this is a [[false etymology]] and that the term instead came from the practice — in old and/or extinct [[football|British football codes]] — of a player who had caught the ball ''marking'' the ground with a foot, to show where the catch had been taken, and calling "mark" to be awarded a free kick. The term mark has been used in modern football codes since the 1830s, notably in [[rugby football]] and early [[Association football]] (soccer). It is still used in [[rugby union]], in reference to a fair catch by a player who calls "mark" when catching a ball inside their team's 22 metre line.

== The "Marngrook Trophy" ==

In [[2002]], in a game at [[Stadium Australia]], the [[Sydney Swans]] and [[Essendon Football Club]] began to compete for the '''''Marngrook Trophy''''', awarded after home-and-away matches each year between the two teams in the [[Australian Football League]]. However, the games are played under normal rules of the AFL, rather than anything approaching Marn Grook.

==References==
<div class="references-small"><references /></div>

== External links ==
* [http://www.aboriginalfootball.com.au/marngrook.html AboriginalFootball.com, "Marn Grook"]

[[Category:Australian Aboriginal culture]]
[[Category:Australian rules football]]
[[Category:Sport in Australia]]
[[Category:Traditional football]]
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases]]