In Switzerland, associations and local elected officials are concerned about the negative repercussions on biodiversity, particularly on bird species, of the proliferation of wild and domestic cats.
Cats, a risk for biodiversity? The Swiss association for climate protection is working on a moratorium aimed at controlling the population of these felines. The idea would be to suspend the importation and breeding of cats for a period of ten years, reports Swiss info.
According to the Swiss media, the Swiss Association for Climate Protection is preparing a popular initiative on the subject. In Switzerland, citizens can propose that a text be submitted to a referendum. To do this, at least 100,000 signatures must be collected over 18 months.
Threat to local biodiversity?
There are approximately two million cats in Switzerland, one in ten of which are feral, according to estimates by the animal protection foundation. Among domestic felines, the majority have access to the outdoors.
According to the daily newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, cats kill around 30 million birds and half a million reptiles and amphibians every year. In addition, a third of all bird species in Switzerland are endangered.
In France, the LPO estimates that on average a domestic cat “kills between 5 and 10 birds per year”. Compared to the 15 million cats owned by the French, the damage to magpies, tits and other sparrows would be more than 75 million victims per year, not counting cats in the wild.
According to a study conducted by the National Museum of Natural History and the French Society for the Study and Protection of Mammals, 66% of the prey brought back by domestic cats are small mammals, mainly rodents. Next come birds, which represent 22% of prey, mainly sparrows, tits, blackbirds, robins, or turtledoves.
Swiss cantons are considering the issue
Like the Swiss info report, other associations are calling for solutions other than a moratorium, such as the nature protection organisation Pro Natura, which suggests “collars that make noise”, keeping cats indoors “for a few weeks during the main breeding season” or “systematically sterilising outdoor cats to limit their hunting instinct”.
In the Swiss canton of Aargau, the Green Party is calling for mandatory microchipping and registration of cats, as is the case for dogs, which it says will reduce the number of animals “purchased on impulse” particularly because “anyone who gets tired of a pet cat can abandon it at any time without being held responsible”.
According to Swiss info, in Bern, the capital, an elected member of the Liberal-Radical Party has proposed the introduction of a tax on outdoor cats.
Cat predation adds to other threats
As Anne-Laure Dugué, head of the wildlife in distress program at the LPO, explained to BFMTV.com a few months ago, “cats are in no way the cause of the worldwide decline in biodiversity or the cause of mortality.”
According to CNRSthe number of birds has declined by 25% in 40 years on the European continent, or even by almost 60% for species in agricultural environments, i.e. 800 million fewer birds since 1980.
Scientists point to “evolution” temperaturesurbanization, forest areas” but first and foremost “intensive agriculture” with the increase in the use of fertilizers and of pesticides.
“Predation by cats can be added to this, especially in areas where urbanization already means that the areas are more limited for biodiversity,” explained Anne-Laure Dugué.
For several years, the city of Walldorf, Germany, has been asking feline owners to no longer let them outside from May to August. This measure aims to protect rare birds present in this municipality, the crested lark, during their breeding season. If a cat is caught killing one of these birds, the owner risks a fine.
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