Australian cat owners could have to keep their pets indoors permanently¹ under a '24-hour cat curfew’ proposed by the government.

近日澳大利亚政府提出了“24小时猫咪禁足令”，这项提案意味着今后澳洲的猫奴们可能必须将自己的爱猫长期关在屋子里了。

The proposal has been made by Australia’s first 'threatened species commissioner²', Gregory Andrews, in a bid to protect native animals facing extinction³ due to cat attacks, according to the The Sydney Morning Herald⁴.

据《悉尼先驱晨报》（The Sydney Morning Herald）报道，该提案由澳大利亚首个“濒危物种专员”格雷戈里·安德鲁斯（Gregory Andrews）提出，旨在保护那些因遭受猫咪袭击而濒临灭绝的本土动物。

He said the government will seek public support for “24-hour containment⁵ requirements for domestic cats, particularly close to identified conservation area of significance”.

安德鲁斯说，政府将就“对家猫，尤其是靠近已确认为重点保护区域的家猫，实行24小时禁闭”一事寻求公众的支持。

The measure is already in place in some jurisdictions⁶ and could be rolled out across the country.

该措施已经在某些辖区得以实施，或将推广至全澳。

The country is currently facing a cat crisis as it struggles to cope with huge numbers of the animals.

澳大利亚目前正面临猫咪危机，政府苦于应对数量庞大的猫咪。

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

猫在200年前由欧洲移民带到澳洲，大量繁殖后迅速遍布整个澳洲大陆以及新西兰。有人估计，澳大利亚大约有2000万只猫，它们每天杀死约7500万本土动物。

Australiais thought to have 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.

澳大利亚被认为是世界上物种灭绝最严重的地方之一，自欧洲殖民者到来，共有约29个本土哺乳类物种消失。现在有约1800个物种被列入濒危物种名单。

The government has also proposed a ‘cat cull⁷’ to kill 2 million cats in a bid to preserve other species. The proposal has proved controversial and been condemned⁸ by animal rights activists⁹. Speaking last week, the French actress Brigitte Bardot said the country was “sullied by the blood of millions of innocent animals.”

澳政府还提出了一项“宰杀宠物猫”提案，拟为保护其他物种宰杀200万只猫。这个提案饱受争议，遭到动物权益保护人士的谴责。法国女演员碧姬·芭杜（Brigitte Bardot）上周表示，澳大利亚“沾满了数百万无辜动物的鲜血。”