Spotted-Tail Quolls As Pets

The Law

Keeping this animal as a pet is illegal. However, people are getting increasing experience with keeping this animal.

The laws against the keeping of native animals as pets were designed to protect the animals. However, the laws can be counter productive, and many people are questioning the law preventing the keeping of Native animals as pets if they are from captive bred populations.

Precedent

There is precedent for this approach. For example, it is generally illegal to sell live native fish caught in the wild, but it can be quite legal to catch them and sell them. I should add a note of caution here. Many fish are subject to different rules about catching them. Make sure you understand these before going fishing.

Another Similar Example

Before 1975, it was legal in South Australia to catch and sell or keep Macquarie Short Necked Turtles, Emydura macquarii. In 1975, it was made illegal to catch any wild Turtle or Tortoise. However, one Fruit grower near the River Murray got a permit to catch 100 wild Macquarie Short Necked Turtles to try to start a captive breeding program. His breeding program was very successful and he has been supplying the Pet industry round Australia since then. His Turtles have now gone through at least three generations.

I think that his efforts have done more to protect this species than the legal prohibition on catching them.

The same sort of rule could be applied to the Spotted-tail Quoll.

Intelligence

This animal is of similar intelligence to a Cat.

Litter Trays

The Spotted-tail Quoll can be trained to use a litter tray in the same way as a Pussy Cat.

Nocturnal

The Spotted-tail Quoll is mostly nocturnal in the wild, but does come out in the daytime to bask in the sunlight. This is similar to our more familiar Cats.

Hunting

This is a more effective animal at controlling rats and mice than the domestic Cat. A difference between them and Pussy Cats is that the Spotted-tail Quoll tends to kill them straight away while a cat will sometimes play with a mouse for a long time before killing it.

Apart from being more humane to the little mouse, it reduces the chance of the rodent escaping inside the house and colonising the house.

Quolls, like cats will climb trees and will eat birds (and sometimes their eggs) but they are certainly no worse for killing birds than Cats.

Affectionate

People who have kept Quolls say that they become just as affectionate towards Humans as Cats.

Compatible with Cats

Quolls and Cats have been kept together, loving in harmony.

It’s Time

It is time for governments to reconsider the laws on keeping native animals as pets.