Cats accused of killing 1.5 billion animals annually… Details
A recent study has accused cats of killing over 2000 species worldwide, including hundreds of endangered ones.
The American study claims that despite being human companions. cats are “killers,” noting that domestic cats have spread to all continents except Antarctica since they were domesticated 9,000 years ago.
Scientists, led by Christopher Lepczyk from Auburn University in the United States. described cats in the study published in the journal Nature Communications as. “among the most problematic invasive species in the world.”
The research team stated that approximately 1.5 billion local animals are killed by domestic cats each year in Australia alone. However, the global toll of these pet animals’ adventures may be much larger than anyone imagines.
The list of victims includes birds, mammals, insects, and reptiles. with 17% of them being environmentally significant. according to the study.
In total, cats consume 981 species of birds. 463 species of reptiles, and 431 species of mammals. It was also found that they feed on 119 species of insects .and 57 species of amphibians.
Cats are particularly harmful on islands, where they eat three times the number of living organisms that are of concern for conservation compared to what they consume on continents.
For example, in Australia alone. estimates suggest that cats kill over 300 million animals each year.according to the British newspaper “The Guardian.”
Lepczyk stated, “We really don’t know of any other mammal that eats such a large number of different animal species. It’s almost like random feeding.they eat whatever is available.”
Environmental conservation groups call for keeping cats indoors. and some places have implemented cat containment measures.
For instance, in the city of Vaudorf in southwestern Germany. residents were instructed to keep their cats indoors for three months in the spring .to protect endangered ground-nesting birds that breed during that time.
The study found that about 9% of known bird species. 6% of known mammal species. and 4% of known reptile species are eaten by cats.
Scientists arrived at these numbers by examining hundreds of existing studies, and they believe their final estimates are somewhat conservative. and underestimate the true scope of cat predation.
It is expected that the numbers will increase with more research. as studies struggle to clearly identify prey species and classify many species as “unknown.
