Cats eat more than two thousand different animal species worldwide, hundreds of which are on the vulnerable species list. Cats therefore pose a threat to biodiversity, researchers warn in the scientific journal Nature.
The researchers say they have mapped out the hunting and eating behavior of cats worldwide for the first time. It shows that cats eat almost a thousand species of birds, 463 species of reptiles and another 431 species of mammals. Insects and amphibians such as frogs are also on the menu.
In total, the worldwide cat population consumes 2,084 animal species. According to the scientists, this is still a conservative estimate.
Of those animal species, 347 are on the list of vulnerable animal species. The researchers call this “worrisome”. They point out that cats are already linked to more than a quarter of all species extinctions worldwide. According to the researchers, this makes cats among the “most problematic invasive animal species in the world”.
The hunting and eating behavior of cats is mainly a problem on islands, the researchers continue. There, cats eat three times as many vulnerable and protected animal species as on the mainland. This is because many animal species on islands only occur locally.
Concerns about cat behavior led to the idea of a cat shooting competition in New Zealand earlier this year. Feral and feral cats are a plague in the country. They are estimated to kill more than a million native birds and tens of millions of non-native birds each year. After criticism from animal welfare organizations, the plan was canceled.
2023-12-13 07:25:18
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