User:Planariaworm/Cat predation on wildlife

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Cat predation on wildlife is 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.

Human s contribute to cats' predation on wildlife, enabling their behavior through various aid forms, thus giving cats an unfair survival advantage. Cat s are unique to other house pets because many cat owners permit their cats to roam free outdoors, allowing cats to prey on small animals regardless of hunger. Humans desire cats for their predation on common pests dating back to Ancient Egypt, despite the lack of evidence to support this claim. Alternatively, evidence has shown that cats do more harm to the environment than good.

Ecology of Fear
Ecology of fear or "fear effect": is a negative impact on prey that leads to a decrease in their population due to predators' presence or scent. The study "Urban bird declines and the fear of cats" refers to how native species are reproducing less to avoid predators, even if predator mortality is low. This study indicates how small predator mortality is, which is less than 1%, but it has a considerable impact on the birds' fecundity and reduces the abundance of birds to 95%. The fear effect is one indirect way cats affect native species besides diseases. The presence of cats altered the prey foraging, movement, and stress response and significantly impacted survival and reproduction.

Disease Carriers
A secondary effect of cat predation on wildlife is the ability to transmit a range of diseases to animals. Cats can spread diseases to animals they interact with and to marine animals. This includes transmission of diseases to humans. In recent years tick populations have increased in size and geographic distribution due to climate change, habitat fragmentation, and host availability. In North America, cats are common tick hosts. Diseases capable of being transmitted through ticks include Theileria Orientalis, and R. rickettsii, hemorrhagic fever. Some of the diseases that can be transmitted from cats to humans include Toxoplasmosis, Hookworms (Uncinaria stenocephala, Ancyclostoma tubaeforme, A. brazilense and A. ceylanicum), Cat-scratch disease (bartonellosis), Rickettsia disease (Rickettesia typhi), Tularemia (Francisella tularensis), and Plague (Yersinia pestis).

Toxoplasmosis
Toxoplasmosis is caused by the single-celled parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which usually occurs in warm-blooded animals. Cats are typically the carriers of toxoplasmosis, which is very dangerous for many birds in Hawaii. Species toxoplasmosis has been found to be fatal are: The Hawaiian crow, The Nene (bird), The Red-footed booby, and the Hawaiian monk seal, many of which are endangered. Toxoplasmosis found in marine Life is attributed to freshwater runoff from cities. Toxoplasmosis can be transmitted from cats to marine organisms, in some instances it is fatal to Hawaiian marine animals. Toxoplasmosis transmitted from cats have been reported in mammalian, avian, marine, marsupial, sheep, and goat species.

Feral Cat Population Management
Various methods of population control are used to reduce the number of feral cats in areas where they are too abundant, thereby reducing the adverse effects that they often have on wildlife in those areas. Some of the methods most used, particularly in urban areas, are “Trap-Neuter-Return” and “Trap-Euthanize” programs, as well as neutering kittens and allowing them to be adopted. Analysis of these methods has shown that “Trap-Neuter-Return” programs are more effective at controlling small feral cat populations, and “Trap-Euthanize” programs are more effective at reducing significantly larger populations. The reason for this discrepancy is that in areas with smaller populations, feral cats tend to immigrate back into the area where culling has taken place and quickly repopulate it, as they can carry litters of up to 8 kittens at a time. When the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program is practiced, it includes a visual identification component known as “Ear-tipping.” After undergoing sterilization surgery, the distal tip of the ear pinna is removed while the cats are still under general anesthesia. Cats that have undergone this surgery can be identified because the tip of one of their ears is missing. Ear-tipping helps communities determine which feral cats in their neighborhoods have been sterilized. [*this section was removed on the wiki article for having too much detail. I'm replacing it with the following text*] A component of TNR is a process called “Ear-tipping”. After undergoing sterilization surgery, the tip of the ear is removed while cats are still under general anesthesia. Cats with tipped ears help communities determine which cats in their neighborhood are stray and have been sterilized.

Housecats are common pets in western societies which has an effect on how society views the moral implication of feral cat population management. A study was done in rural and urban England, to determine the perspective of cat owners on managing cat predation of local wildlife. The majority of cat owners agreed that cats should not remain inside to prevent them from hunting. Many cat owners were more concerned about an individuals cats safety then their predation on other animals.

Cat-exclusion zones (CEZ) have been proposed in conservation areas where certain species are vulnerable to predation by cats. These zones are intended for Rural–urban fringe areas serving as a buffer zone to mitigate cat predation from urban cats in rural areas. Cat-exclusion zones were presented in response to the lack of success from existing forms of population management. There is probable controversy associated with this policy as it can be perceived as restricting one's freedom, due to the relationship between humans and cats.

Australia
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Feral and pet cats in Australia are estimated to kill around 650 million lizards and snakes per year, or about 225 reptiles per cat on average. Cats were found to be actively hunting and killing over 250 different species of reptiles in Australia, with 11 of which being considered endangered species. Cats consume so many lizards in Australia that there was a single cat found with the parts of 40 individual lizards inside of its stomach, the highest amount recorded thus far.

United States
The United States is estimated to house a population of 60-80 million feral cats, and they are estimated to kill 2.4 billion birds per year, making them the leading human-caused threat to the survival of bird species in the country.

In California, a study found that in areas where humans feed feral cats, they will continue to hunt large numbers of native birds even without the intention of eating them. This has resulted in the disappearance of native bird species, such as the California Quail (Callipepla california) and California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum), in those areas where they once resided.

In Maryland, a study showed that due to feral cats overhunting chipmunks, the natural prey of many raptor species, the Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) population struggled to find food and had to switch to preying on harder-to-catch songbirds, which lengthened their hunting times and increased their nestlings mortality rate. Cats were presented to Hawaii due to sailing ships from Europe, whose purpose was to restrict both mice and rats on the ships. Cats are known to be able to hunt on their own. In Hawaii, they can feed on songbirds and many other birds that nest on the ground and in burrows. Cats, considered wide-range predators, can hunt in any habitat they are in, which causes a decrease in the population of these prey, especially in nestlings, which are vulnerable to being unable to fly. A study was made in endangered birds’ habitats with an infrared camera to predict how feral cats decreased the population of birds. They find up to 11% of Palila nests depredated yearly, which significantly impacts this species due to the few eggs laid every year and a slow development from nestling to adulthood. In New York City, cats are commonly brought into businesses to combat the city's rat problem. Studies done in New York City determined that cats are not effective predators against rats and much more of a threat to other urban wildlife.

Human interaction
The relationship between cats and humans began as a commensal relationship due to their predation on rodents, dating back to 7500 BC.in connection to the inception of commensal rodents near Neolithic sedentary communities. There is some debate regarding exactly how early domestication began, but there is enough evidence (DNA and Art) to conclude that humans started domesticating cats in Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptians found cats to be beneficial for pest reduction. Human influence on cat evolution can be seen morphologically after the domestication of the cat and the increase of global trade routes, as cats were recruited for rodent control.

Unlike other wild predators, cats are given different forms of aid from humans such as food, shelter, and medical treatment. Aid given by humans present cats with a survival advantage which would not be seen otherwise in the wild, leading to high populations As opportunistic hunters, cats are extremely adaptive to their environments, even if they are a housecat living in a home.

Mice and rats
The idea that cats and rodents are natural enemies is a common societal perception, culturally reinforced, leading to their use as population control in urban environments. Cats typically prey on small mammals and prefer mice over rats because they are significantly smaller in size. While cats do not prey on rats, the presence of cats have an effect on rat behavior, which can be seen as an example of ecology of fear. This disruption of rat behavior can strengthen the misconception that cats are effective forms of rat control.