The Problem of Cats

Cats are not unique in this, but they pose a conundrum to the overall animal lover. I grew up with cats. I’ve made friends with cats. More often than not, the company of a cat is at least as good as the company of a human; both being selected at random.

All that said, cats are horribly destructive to wildlife, often wildlife threatened with the abyss of species extinction. Cats kill approximately 1-4 billion birds and 6-22 billion mammals each year in the US alone. Cats prey on native wildlife in Madagascar, where most species are endemic and many are threatened to some degree. On Stephen’s Island off New Zealand, cats were most likely responsible for the extinction of a flightless wren. Although this was once attributed to the work of one infamous cat named Tibbles, she certainly had other feline accomplices.

An obvious solution is for cats to be indoor animals entirely but many people are quite resistant to this idea. I know at least one person who after even seeing a cat killed by a car would rather have no cat than an indoor only animal. Besides as far as free roaming animals go, the cat’s already out of the bag…

When I volunteered on Abaco Island for Cuban Amazon conservation work, we collaborated with a conservation agency who employed someone to hunt cats with gun and dogs; for the sake of parrots. This seems to be indicative of the mainstream opinion of conservationists towards cats.

Then again, someone I know well stayed at an eco lodge/ research station in Belize that feeds a population of free roaming cats. Predictably cats were seen hunting a keel-billed toucan, lizards and even killed a manakin all in just a few days visit. There are bird and bat capture techniques classes held there sometimes. I wonder if these animals, after the stress of being handled or when tied up in a mist net more easily succumb to feline claws?

However you look at it though, it’s nearly impossible to remove cats once they’re established in an ecosystem, with the exception of small islands. I’m hoping for a miracle feline sterilization drug that can be used with bait myself. Until then, we must deal with the problem of cats in the best ways we can…