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There is a current study at Reading University (but involving Dan Forman and Rory Wilson) attempting to accurately assess the impact of pet cats in the UK on wildlife (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/15/cats-kill-wildlife) by using GPS tracking devices on 200 Berkshire moggies in 9 one kilometre squared areas and getting their pet people to complete diaries of carcasses dragged in. The study appears to be somewhat complicated by variations in estimations of the proportions of the catch/kill returned to the home but the authors of the study estimated that there could be more than 600 pet cats per km2, accounting for an estimated 10,000 animals per annum. If this figure is extrapolated over the whole UK (accepting that not everywhere is Berkshire), a figure of 92 million fatalities (including 27 million birds) is obtained. One cat even managed to bring back a weasel. Other 'guestimates' put the annual kill by the UK's 9 million cats as high as 150 to 200 million animals (depending on the numbers of animals eaten on the spot or too heavy to bring back home). No matter what the actual number, it is clear (I don't accept that the cats merely kill the old and weak) that cats have a powerful impact on wildlife.UP DATE The recent report that 'Animal Behaviorists' in the USA are offering advice on how to keep cats in the house might conceivably help wildlife. Owners are taught how to brush the teeth and cut the claws of their pet. The cat is also trained to sit to command and to walk on a leash (http://www.hdw-inc.com/leashtraining.htm). Other people have complained about this approach noting that roaming wild and catching things are part of the cat's natural behaviour. This is true but cats are not part of the natural ecology of the USA, the UK or Australia.
4 comments:
This is an instance where I think extrapolated data is a misleading representation of facts.
I have three cats of varying ages and despite living on a riverbank with an abundance of wildlife, to date they have (to my knowledge) only caught two birds and one rat between them in the last four years. Considering that it was my oldest, most timid and, it has to be said, my most overweight cat which caught the rat, I can only conclude that the rat was already ailing or completely stupid!
In fact, given that we had a buzzard on the riverbank the other day, it would be more likely that the cats themselves would be in danger, as predators would become prey.
So please don’t criminalise all cats just because we have a few veliceraptors in our midst.
Your cats may be little angels (in deed, I hope so). The trouble is that it is very difficult (without this type of tracking study)to know what they get up to at night. Perhaps they kill and eat or they simply kill and leave?
I do agree that domestic moggies do pose a considerable threat to wildlife, but what i can't see is how a study such as this (and i am in no means saying it isn't vaild) will have an effect in the long term. Im my eyes there will always be a high number of domestic cats in Britian and pet owners who will blindly demannd that they can do no wrong so how would we go about controling this issue?
So it's Pro-cats and Anti-cats?
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