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 HONG KONG — Australian officials have responded to criticism from animal rights activists and celebrities, including the former actress Brigitte Bardot and the singer Morrissey, that a government plan to protect threatened species by killing millions of feral cats is unnecessarily cruel. 
 
 Gregory Andrews, Australia’s threatened species commissioner, has written open letters to Ms. Bardot and Morrissey saying that feral cats prey on more than 100 of the country’s threatened species and that they were a “major contributor” to the extinction of at least 27 mammal species in the country over the past 200 years. 
 
 He called some of the extinct species, such as the lesser bilby, desert bandicoot, crescent nailtail wallaby and big-eared hopping mouse, “delightful creatures, rich in importance in Australian indigenous culture, and formerly playing important roles in the ecology of our country. We don’t want to lose any more species like these.” 
 
 The Australian Department of the Environment says that feral cats are the biggest threat to the country’s mammals, ahead of foxes and habitat loss. The government plan would use poison and traps to kill the cats. 
 
 In announcing the plan in July, Greg Hunt, the environment minister, said that he wanted two million feral cats culled by 2020. Australia has an estimated 20 million feral cats, which are an invasive species brought by European settlers. Calls to exterminate the cats have been floated before, including one in the 1990s that called for killing all feral cats by 2020. 
 
 When the current plan was announced, Ms. Bardot, 81, the French actress well known for her work in animal rights campaigns, wrote that the plan was “a scandal, a shame.” 
 
 “This animal genocide is inhuman and ridiculous,” she said, arguing that Australia should neuter feral cats rather than kill them. 
 
 Morrissey, an English pop star, called the Australian government “a committee of sheep farmers who have zero concerns about animal welfare or animal respect.” Mr. Andrews’s response did not say why the Australian authorities were choosing to kill the cats over neutering them. He did say the government’s plan is supported by “the overwhelming majority of key environmental nongovernment organizations,” including the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy. 
 
 Separately, the state of South Australia said this week that it would begin to require the neutering of pet dogs and cats in an effort to cut down on unwanted animals and dog-bite incidents. 

 Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption Both Bardot and Morrissey have been high-profile critics of the feral cat cull 
 
 An Australian official has written an open letter to Morrissey and Brigitte Bardot to defend the decision to cull two million feral cats. 
 
 The British musician and French film star have both criticised the plan, but Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews said it was an essential move. 
 
 Morrissey has accused Australia of "taking idiocy just too far". 
 
 Mr Andrews said cats endangered more than 120 species and their cull would protect native wildlife. 
 
 "Our native species are simply not equipped to coexist with feral cats; they did not evolve alongside predators like the feral cat," he wrote in his open letter. 
 
 He said the plan, which was first announced in July, will see two million cats killed over the next five years, and has the support of major environmental organisations. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Feral cats are estimated to kill many other animals in Australia each year 
 
 Morrissey has angrily attacked the scheme, calling the Australian government "essentially a committee of sheep-farmers who have zero concerns about animal welfare or animal respect". 
 
 "The cats are, in fact, two million smaller versions of Cecil the lion," he said, referring to the famous big cat killed by a US dentist in Zimbabwe. 
 
 In July, Bardot wrote an open letter to Environment Minister Greg Hunt, calling the plan "scandalous". 
 
 "This animal genocide is inhumane and ridiculous," she said. There is no word yet if either of the two have replied to Mr Andrews' letter. 
 
 Australia's feral cat problem 
 
 Cats arrived in Australia at the same time as European settlers - feral cat colonies became established by the late 1850s. 
 
 There are now an estimated 20 million feral cats across the country. 
 
 They prey on small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects - each cat kills around five animals a day. 
 
 Feral cats have been a major contributor to the extinction of at least 27 species and threaten over 120 more.p 
 
 Among the species lost are those such as the desert bandicoot and large-eared hopping-mouse, both unique to Australia. 
 
 Source: Australian government
– The lesser bilby. The crescent nailtail wallaby. The desert bandicoot. The large-eared hopping mouse. These are just four of the adorably named animal species that are now extinct thanks largely to the approximately 20 million feral cats currently populating Australia, the New York Times reports. This week, the Australian government is responding to criticism—specifically from singer Morrissey and French actor Brigitte Bardot—of its plan to kill 2 million feral cats by 2020. "Our native species are simply not equipped to coexist with feral cats," the BBC quotes official Gregory Andrews in open letters to the celebrities. "They did not evolve alongside predators like the feral cat." The plan to cull the feral cat population was announced in July. Since that time, Morrissey has condemned the plan as "taking idiocy just too far" and called the Australian government "a committee of sheep-farmers who have zero concerns about animal welfare or animal respect," the BBC reports. Bardot calls the plan "scandalous" and says, "This animal genocide is inhumane and ridiculous." Andrews points out an even bigger animal genocide is being perpetrated by feral cats on the native wildlife. At least 27 species are extinct already in large part due to the cats, and the felines are currently endangering more than 120 more. He says each feral cat kills around five animals every day. According to the Australian government, feral cats are a graver threat to native wildlife than even habitat loss, the Times reports. Australia's plan is supported by the World Wildlife Fund and Nature Conservancy.