The Australian government announced plans to cull up to 2 million feral cats by 2020 in a bid to preserve dozens of native species that authorities claim face extinction because of the cats’ predatory behavior.

Speaking to a national radio station, Gregory Andrews, the country’s first threatened-species commissioner, said Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt “is declaring war on feral cats, and he’s asked me to take charge of that program.”

A feral cat catches a crimson rosella bird in Australia. By one estimate, the 20 million cats there kill roughly 75 million native animals a day.

Hunt unveiled the five-year plan at a Melbourne zoo Thursday, vowing to protect Australia’s native mammal and bird populations. “We are drawing a line in the sand today which says, ‘On our watch, in our time, no more species extinction,’ ” Hunt said.

All of Australia’s states and territories have agreed to list feral cats as “pests.” The bulk of the government funding for the plan will go to administering the culls, which will involve baiting, shooting or poisoning feral cats. The government is taking many steps to prove that these actions will be carried out in as “humane and effective” a manner as possible.

So what’s so wrong about the cats?

The animals were introduced to the Antipodes about 200 years ago by European settlers, and bred and spread rapidly across the Australian continent and New Zealand. According to one estimate, 20 million cats in Australia kill roughly 75 million native animals a day.

According to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, Australia has one of the worst extinction records in the world, losing about 29 native mammal species since the European arrival. It now lists some 1,800 species as under threat.

“It’s very important to emphasize, too, that we don’t hate cats,” Andrews said. “We just can’t tolerate the damage that they’re doing anymore to our wildlife.”

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