Miranda Nazzaro and The Hill
24 minutes ago
Tuesday, October 13, 2020 Cats live on Furtada Island, popularly known as “Cat Island” in Mangaratiba, Brazil. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
(The Hill) – Felines prey on hundreds of endangered species, according to a new study, and scientists classify them as some of the “world’s most problematic invasive species.” are doing.
Researchers evaluated the diets of 533 free-ranging cats, both outdoor and non-domestic cats, and found that the cats ate a total of 2,084 species. Of these, 347 species, or 16.65%, were found to fall under the ‘conservation’ category. concern. ” This includes species listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Near Threatened, Endangered, or Endangered.
In the study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from several universities, including Auburn University and Cornell University, found that cats have a “generalist diet” and that cats are “opportunistic.” “It is a natural predator and an obligate carnivore.” Cats have specific physiological demands, so this species is known to hunt a variety of animals.
In total, cats eat 981 species of birds, followed by 463 species of reptiles, 431 species of mammals, 119 species of insects, and 57 species of amphibians.
According to researchers, about 7.1% of birds that are part of a cat’s diet are on the IUCN Red List, along with about 4.9% of mammals and 2.7% of reptiles.
The study found that cats have the greatest impact on endangered species on islands when compared to the continent. Just over a quarter, or 25.22%, of the species consumed by cats on the island were of conservation concern, while only 8.62% of the species consumed by cats on the continent fell into this category. was.
Researchers say they have discovered records of eating 11 species of cats in Australia, Mexico, the United States and New Zealand. These species have since been reclassified as extinct or extinct in the wild, many of which are due to endemic diseases on the islands.
“Our study reveals the predation habits of one of the world’s most successful and widely distributed invasive predators,” the researchers said, adding that cats essentially They added that they feed directly on most things in their environment and may not be as discriminatory in their dietary choices as cats. You might think so.
“Cats primarily feed on what is present, and if a particular species is missing from the diet analysis, it means that the prey is absent or rare in the surrounding environment, making it difficult for the cat to catch. Therefore, profitability may be low or the prey may be difficult to obtain ‘to detect (e.g. invertebrates) in studies of feces and digesta,’ the researchers continued.
The study builds on previous research into the impact cats have on the animals around them, leading some groups to call for improved pet ownership to curb wildlife loss. Cats kill more than 320 million native animals in Australia each year, with more than 320 million native animals killed in Australia in 2020, according to analysis released in June by the Biodiversity Council, Invasive Species Council and BirdLife Australia. It was found that the number has increased from 41 million.
