Cat predation on wildlife

Cat predation on wildlife is the result of the natural instincts and behavior of both feral and owned house cats to hunt small prey, including wildlife. Some people view this as a desirable phenomenon, such as in the case of barn cats and other cats kept for the intended purpose of pest control; but scientific evidence does not support the popular use of cats to control urban rat populations, and ecologists oppose their use for this purpose because of the disproportionate harm they do to beneficial native wildlife. As an invasive species and superpredator, they do considerable ecological damage. Due to cats' natural hunting instinct, ability to adapt to different environments, and the wide range of small animals they prey upon, both feral and domesticated cats are responsible for predation on wildlife. Cats are invasive species, super-predators, and opportunistic hunters resulting in considerable ecological harm. The mere presence of cats in environments can create fear amongst native species through the ecology of fear, impacting populations of native species and limiting their survival. Cats are disease carriers and can spread diseases to animals in their community and marine life. There are methods to help mitigate the environmental impact imposed by feral cats through different forms of population management. Reducing cats' impact on the environment is limited by perceptions society has towards cats because humans have a relationship with cats as companions. In Australia, hunting by cats helped to drive at least 20 native mammals to extinction, and continues to threaten at least 124 more. Their introduction has caused the extinction of at least 33 endemic species on islands throughout the world. A 2013 systematic review in Nature Communications of data from 17 studies found that feral and domestic cats kill billions of birds in the United States every year. A 2013 study by Scott R. Loss and others of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S.