Cats kill billions of wild birds each year. This feral cat near Brisbane has caught a Pale-headed rosella.
Cat predation on wildlife is the result of the natural instincts and behavior of both feral and owned house cats to hunt small prey, including wildlife. Some people view this as a desirable phenomenon, such as in the case of barn cats and other cats kept for the intended purpose of pest control in rural settings; but scientific evidence does not support the popular use of cats to control urban rat populations, and ecologists oppose their use for this purpose because of the disproportionate harm they do to native wildlife. As an invasive species[1] and predator,[2] they do considerable ecological damage.[2]
Due to cats' natural hunting instinct, their ability to adapt to different environments, and the wide range of small animals they prey upon, both feral and free-ranging pet cats are responsible for predation on wildlife, and in some environments, considerable ecological harm. Cats are disease carriers and can spread diseases to animals in their community and marine life. There are methods to help mitigate the environmental impact imposed by feral cats through different forms of population management. Reducing cats' impact on the environment is limited by perceptions society has towards cats because humans have a relationship with cats as pets.[3]
In Australia, hunting by feral cats helped to drive at least 20 native mammals to extinction,[4] and continues to threaten at least 124 more.[4] Their introduction into island ecosystems has caused the extinction of at least 33 endemic species on islands throughout the world.[2] A 2013 systematic review in Nature Communications of data from 17 studies found that feral and domestic cats are estimated to kill billions of birds in the United States every year.[5]
In a global 2023 assessment, cats were found to prey on 2,084 different species, of which 347 (or 16.5%) were of conservation concern. Birds, reptiles, and small mammals accounted for 90% of killed species. Island animals of conservation concern had three times more species predated upon than continental species.[6]
^Price Persson, Charlotte (26 November 2017). "Scientist: Australia's feral cats should be eradicated". ScienceNordic.
^ abcNogales, Manuel; Vidal, Eric; Medina, Félix M.; Bonnaud, Elsa; Thershy, Bernie R.; Campbell, Karl J.; Zavaleta, Erika S. (1 October 2013). "Feral Cats and Biodiversity Conservation: The Urgent Prioritization of Island Management" (PDF). BioScience. 63 (10): 804–810. doi:10.1525/bio.2013.63.10.7.
^Crowley, Sarah L; Cecchetti, Martina; McDonald, Robbie A (3 September 2020). "Diverse perspectives of cat owners indicate barriers to and opportunities for managing cat predation of wildlife". Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 18 (10): 544–549. Bibcode:2020FrEE...18..544C. doi:10.1002/fee.2254. ISSN 1540-9295.
^ ab"Tackling Feral Cats and Their Impacts - Frequently asked questions" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
^Loss, Scott R.; Will, Tom; Marra, Peter P. (2013). "The impact of free-ranging domestic cats on wildlife of the United States". Nature Communications. 4 (1): 1396. Bibcode:2013NatCo...4.1396L. doi:10.1038/ncomms2380. ISSN 2041-1723. PMID 23360987.
^Lepczyk, Christopher A.; Fantle-Lepczyk, Jean E.; Dunham, Kylee D.; Bonnaud, Elsa; Lindner, Jocelyn; Doherty, Tim S.; Woinarski, John C. Z. (12 December 2023). "A global synthesis and assessment of free-ranging domestic cat diet". Nature Communications. 14 (1): 7809. Bibcode:2023NatCo..14.7809L. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42766-6. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 10716121. PMID 38086838.
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