2023-06-09 11:11:27
June 09, 2023
Cats are not only cute, they are also formidable predators, cut out for hunting. Birds, reptiles, small mammals… The cat threatens many species, and biodiversity with them.
The cat is the only feline that man has managed to domesticate. Internet star, he is also one of the most popular pets. But the cat is above all a hunter. The stray cat devotes 12 hours of his day to it.
Thus, in 2020, within the framework of the animal welfare bill, an amendment carried by three deputies aimed to classify the cat as a vermin. “The cat is a predatory animal which largely contributes to the significant reduction of certain animal species, sometimes protected, on French territory: birds, small mammals, lizards…”, was explained in the additional article. The controversial amendment had been rejected. However, he challenges.
11 million stray cats in France
Can cats be considered pests, in the same way as the fox, weasel, magpie, etc.? ? Worldwide, the number of domesticated individuals is estimated at 600 million. According to Statistica, which specializes in statistical data, in 2022 France had more than 15 million domestic cats. And according to a report by the One Voice association, published in 2018, the number of feral cats, domestic cats returned to the wild, is estimated at 11 million individuals! So many cats who devote themselves to their favorite pastime, hunting.
In 2013, a published study summarized the situation as follows: “free-ranging domestic cats have been introduced to the world and have contributed to multiple wildlife extinctions on the islands”, note the researchers. While the impact of domestic cats on the ecosystem is difficult to quantify precisely, scientists believe “that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3 to 4 billion birds and 6.3 to 22.3 billion mammals per year”and this, only in the United States. “Our results suggest that free-ranging cats cause significantly higher wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for American birds and mammals”they continue.
Over 20 Australian species eradicated by cats
In Australia, cats are already responsible for the extinction of 20 to 30 species and threaten 124 others. Each year, they would kill 377 million birds and 648 million reptiles. Maddening figures, so much so that the Australian government was aiming for the elimination of 2 million stray cats by 2017.
In France, a vast participatory survey was launched by the National Museum of Natural History and by the French Society for the Study and Protection of Mammals (SFEPM). In 2021, according to the intermediate data from the survey, we learned that mammals represented 68% of the species predated by cats. Of the approximately 200 species threatened by cats, 22% are birds and 8% reptiles. The other species, less than 3%, are insects, amphibians, fish, spiders, gastropods.
What solutions?
According to the Bird Protection League, in 2020, “more than 14.3% of the animals received in the seven LPO care centers had been predated almost exclusively by cats: 90% birds and 10% mammals. The three most affected bird species are the house sparrow, blackbird and collared dove ».
In order to protect wildlife and biodiversity, everyone is getting organized. In Canberra, Australia, domestic cats are not allowed outside without being on a leash. In France, the associations, including the LPO, pleads for:
- Generalized sterilization of domestic, stray and feral cats;
- Strengthening the identification and monitoring of domestic animals;
- Owner education and empowerment.
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Source : The League for the Protection of Birds, Nature, Biological Conversation, The Sydey Morning Herald, the French Society for the Study and Protection of Mammals
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Written by : Dorothée Duchemin – Edited by: Emmanuel Ducreuzet
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