A “double whammy” of foxes and feral cats are proving fatal to Australia’s native wildlife, new research has found. According to the findings, the bad news Carnivora are responsible for killing more than 2.6 billion mammals, birds, and reptiles in Oz every year, putting some species at risk of extinction. After mapping it out, researchers found there are about 1.7 million foxes across 80% of the country, with a concentration of ‘em in southern Oz. And there are 2.8 million feral cats covering 99.9% of Australia – and they thrive in the desert as they require less water and can survive on the blood of their prey. Yikes… So it’s no giant leap to see why researchers are calling for stronger measures to reduce their numbers. Adelaide University ecologist John Read says there is no “silver bullet”, but baiting, better management of domestic cats, and managing the introduced species they like to eat (sorry, Bugs…) are important.