A new UK study estimated domestic cats hunt, stalk, and kill millions of wildlife each year, yet cat owners are in denial about their cats regarding the instinctive predatory behavior.
Study Focuses on Cat Owners Attitudes towards Claims of Killer Cats
Researchers at the University of Exeter and Queen Mary University of London have found that cat owners have a rather specific attitude of denial when it comes to pinning wildlife deaths on their feline friends. The study was published in the journal of Ecology and Evolution.
Cat owners, according to the researchers, failed to realize the impact their domesticated cats had on wildlife at large in their communities. Researchers have estimated the animals killed by pets reaches into the millions, though cat owners tend to give a different story.
The research focused on 86 cats from 56 households in two UK villages, Mawnan Smith in Cornwall and Thornhill near Stirling. Researchers based the cat owners’ view on their cats’ predatory behavior by comparing the owners’ predictions of prey to the actual prey return.
Despite Evidence, Cat Owners Don’t Believe Cats are Harmful to Wildlife
The researchers found that while cat owners were aware of their beloved cat’s ability to prey on animals, the owners with a predatory cat were unaware of the number of kills their precious Fluffy had orchestrated.
The majority of owners did not agree that cats posed a threat to wildlife, no matter how many tiny bodies of evidence their feline deposited on their doorsteps.
Many cat owners appeared to shun suggestions of keeping their cats inside as a control measure. However, they did consider neutering their pets, which researchers point out is more associated to cat welfare than preservation of wildlife.
Management Strategies Target Cat Welfare
Though the cat owners as a whole weren’t as receptive to sequestering their cats to inside their houses, researchers believe that management strategies focused on cat welfare would be generally accepted and utilized.
Dr. Jenni McDonald, the lead researcher from Exeter’s Penryn Campus, believes the study can help pinpoint the best wildlife preservation strategies. Rather than suggesting that cats are a threat to wildlife, strategies can emphasize the role of cat welfare to cat owners.
By de-emphasizing the role cat predation plays in wildlife deaths, and highlighting the importance of cat welfare, cat owners will be more active in management strategies.
