Outdoor Cats: Single Greatest Source of Human-Caused Mortality for Birds and Mammals, Says New Study

[XemaSab]

A new peer-reviewed study published today and authored by scientists from two of the world’s leading science and wildlife organizations – the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) – has found that bird and mammal mortality caused by outdoor cats is much higher than has been widely reported, with annual bird mortality now estimated to be 1.4 to 3.7 billion and mammal mortality likely 6.9 – 20.7 billion individuals.

The study, which offers the most comprehensive analysis of information on the issue of outdoor cat predation, was published in the online research journal Nature Communications and is based on a review of 90 previous studies. The study was authored by Dr. Peter Marra and Scott Loss, research scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and by Tom Will from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Migratory Birds.

According to Dr. George Fenwick, President of American Bird Conservancy, one of the leading bird conservation organizations in the U.S. and a group that has called for action on this issue for many years, "This study, which employed scientifically rigorous standards for data inclusion, demonstrates that the issue of cat predation on birds and mammals is an even bigger environmental and ecological threat than we thought. No estimates of any other anthropogenic [human-caused] mortality source approach the bird mortality this study calculated for cat predation.”

“To maintain the integrity of our ecosystems, we have to conserve the animals that play integral roles in those ecosystems. Every time we lose another bird species or suppress their population numbers, we’re altering the very ecosystems that we depend on as humans. This issue clearly needs immediate conservation attention,” he said further.

http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/130129.html

[My Good Babushka]

1. I believe it.

I came home with my kindergartener to find two feral cats on our porch. They are getting out of hand. They used to slink around at night, but they are getting rather bold.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

4. Someone in your neighborhood is feeding them...

My condo had a major to-do over the feeding of feral cats.... I understand the impulse, but it makes no sense to encourage the growth of a feral cat population.

[GliderGuider]

2. Leave the wolves alone. I would support an immediate nationwide cat cull... nt

[mike_c]

3. good....

Nasty little feathered lizards.

You know we will NEVER agree on this topic.

[TDale313]

5. Huge cat lover...

Which is why mine is fixed, chipped, and indoor only. Keeps him and the any wild life he would come in contact with as an outdoor cat much happier and healthier.

[dbackjon]

7. Thank you for being a responsible cat owner

You TRULY love your cat.

[dbackjon]

6. This is very true

All outdoor cats should be captured, and NOT released back in the wild.

There should be leash laws like there are for dogs.

No one that is TRULY a Cat lover lets their cats outdoors - it is dangerous for the cats, and for the environment.