According to a new study published in Nature Communications has indicated that cats kill somewhere
between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9 to 20.7 billion mammals annually. And
though the authors admit that stay and feral cats are the biggest killers,
Fluffy certainly isn’t innocent.
Cats kill more animals per year than road accidents,
building collisions, or poisonings. Already fragile island ecosystems and
wildlife are especially perturbed by cats, domestic or otherwise, which “have
been blamed for the global extinction of 33 species,” according to BBC.
Previous estimations of cat killings were at less than a
quarter of what this new study found. Birds are the most likely to be killed,
along with rodents like mice, shrews, voles, squirrels, and rabbits.
Cats are “likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic
mortality for U.S. birds and mammals,” reads
the abstract from the Nature
Communications study. “Scientifically sound conservation and policy
intervention is needed to reduce this impact.”
The easiest way to start reigning in this number is to
actively work to reduce the number of stray and feral cats by spaying and
neutering them. Doing so will prevent wild felines from reproducing and will
slowly whittle down the population. Seeing as wild cats kill about three times as many animals as domestic
ones, this could make a huge impact. Many veterinarians and humane societies
will provide spaying and neutering services for free to good Samaritans who
bring in strays.
Domestic cat owners can help by keeping pet cats indoors
more than outdoors, where they will have free reign over local wildlife. For
those owners who prefer to keep their cats outside, investing in a fitted
collar and bell could help alert wildlife to the cat’s presence and reduce the
number of successful kills.
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