8 Species Driven Toward Extinction by Cats

It has been 1000’s of years for the reason that first cats had been domesticated, however we nonetheless don’t appear to have a lot management over them. Many folks let their cats come and go as they please, maybe forgetting—or not caring—that home cats kill billions of birds and mammals each year. Over half of pet cats within the U.S. spend time exterior, and worldwide the animals have contributed to the extinction of at the least 33 species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Feral cats will be the worst offenders, however pets which are allowed to roam exterior additionally hurt wildlife. The scenario in Australia is so dire that officers have proposed killing some 2 million feral cats to cease their assault on endangered species. In the U.S., there are a lot of applications aimed toward lowering feral cat populations by trapping, neutering, and releasing them—however the Fish and Wildlife Service warns that such applications don’t truly shield native fauna from the cats.

Sadly, it’s already too late for dozens of species, together with the Stephens Island wren (a flightless songbird), the crescent nailtail wallaby, and the lovable desert bandicoot. Here, we spotlight just some of the various species at present threatened by outside cats.