1 Chapter in: Conservation in a Crowded World: Case studies from the AsiaPacific. Merson, J., Cooney, R. and Brown, P. (Eds.) Published by UNSW Press, Sydney. ISBN 9781742233451. p.256276. Cats or quolls? - Australian native mammals as pets Rosalie Chapple 1 , Rosie Cooney 1 , Sarah Doornbos 1 and Stephen Jackson 2 1 Introduction Australia’s biodiversity is in crisis, and the conservation effort to date is failing to stem the tide of extinctions. Australia has the worst record of mammal extinctions in the world, with 24 mammals becoming extinct in the 200 or so years since European settlement (Lindenmayer 2007, Van Dyck & Strahan 2008). Threats include habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, and climate change (Lindenmayer 2007, Cork et al. 2006). Mainstream conservation responses emphasise setting aside protected areas for conservation and regulating potentially damaging activities. However, despite the ongoing efforts of this traditional “fences and fines” approach, Australian biodiversity remains unambiguously in decline (Pressey and Bottrill 2008, Morton et al. 2009). This biodiversity crisis urgently demands consideration of innovative alternatives. Sustainable use of and trade in native wildlife (including on a commercial basis) has often been discussed and used as a tool for conservation (e.g. Webb 2002, Hutton and Leader-Williams 2003, Rosser et al. 2005, Lindsey et al. 2007), and has received international support from intergovernmental and non-governmental policy (IUCN 2000, CBD 2004). While it has been most commonly applied in less-developed countries, there are some notable examples in Australia (e.g. Webb and Manolis 1993; and see Ampt and Baumber (Chapter 11) in this volume). Use of wildlife can be either detrimental or beneficial to wildlife conservation, and a key area of interest for researchers and practitioners is under what conditions ‘use’ leads to good conservation outcomes for those species and their associated ecosystems. Indeed, the question “Under what conditions is trade in captive or wild-harvested species beneficial for wild populations of the traded species?” was recently identified as among the 100 most important questions for the future of conservation practice and policy (Sutherland et al. 2009). Despite international acknowledgement of the potential conservation benefits of commercial use of wildlife, the regulation of wildlife use and trade in Australia significantly limits opportunities for the application of this approach (Tucker 2008, Cooney 2009). Use of native mammals as pets in Australia Serious threats to the survival of native mammals in the wild in Australia have prompted the proposition that more widespread trade and keeping of native 1 1 Institute of Environmental Studies, Vallentine Annexe, University of New South Wales, Australia 2 PO Box 2313, Orange NSW Australia