Posted on 03/29/2019 5:55:47 AM PDT by C19fan
Scientists are calling for a widespread cull of feral cats and dogs, pigs, goats, and rats and mice to save the endangered species they prey upon.
Their eradication on more than 100 islands could save some of the rarest animals on Earth, says an international team.
Islands have seen 75% of known bird, mammal, amphibian and reptile extinctions over the past 500 years.
Many of the losses are caused by animals introduced by humans.
Not naturally present on islands, they can threaten native wildlife.
"Eradicating invasive mammals from islands is a powerful way to remove a key threat to island species and prevent extinctions and conserve biodiversity," said Dr Nick Holmes, from the group Island Conservation.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Humans brought them there. How else would a cat get on an island?
Not really.
Cats are perfect little killing machines and obligate carnivores. They HAVE to eat meat and they like to hunt.
This makes them dangerous to anything that can’t get away - especially birds. Especially song birds. Or, in New Zealand, kiwis.
I have multiple cats (two right now, the Mighty Moonbear and the Great and Terrible Tomas), and we got rid of all the bird feeders in the yard after Tomas caught a hummingbird. We love birds, but it isn’t fair to bait them in reach of our cats.
Even so, they still occasionally bag one. This is a great tragedy when the bird is something beautiful like a cardinal.
Viking
I’ll gladly help.
Cats should be culled on general principle. I don’t really care about extinctions p
I’m okay with killing cats.
Right. It is why so many conservatives reject Leftist views on environmentalism out of hand (as I do)
Conservatives believe we shouldn’t destroy the earth and should do things to preserve it because humans live here and we want maintain our quality of life.
Leftists believe we shouldn’t destroy the earth and should do things to preserve it because they elevate the Earth itself to deity level and view humans (Except themselves, of course) as an unnatural vermin that should be destroyed.
How did pigs get there originally? There were animals there before humans showed up.
Yes. Absolutely. Start with my girlfriend’s.
Cat, the new beef. A green deal commodity solution.
The epitome of petty; this.
Many of these islands are volcanic atolls that eventually erode into the sea anyway, along with all life on them. Other islands were originally part of the mainland that got cut off over time.
Obviously all life on the volcanic islands that formed from undersea volcanoes came from somewhere else, like birds blown in on storms, or rodents and small animals on flotsam and jetsam....and coconuts, mangroves, gourds, etc., drifted to islands on currents.
Polynesians brought pigs with them on their sea travels.
Other travelers of many nationalities brought rats, junglefowl, and cats.
I would start with Liberal Socialists, move on to Muslims, and taper off when Civilization begins to come back from near Extinction.
Cats should always be culled at every opportunity.
“In before the kitty lovers stroke out.”
They can have my cat when they pry it from my cold dead lap.
Boys, bounties and .22 rifles.
Problem solved.
Well, maybe not the feral pigs. That might take a larger caliber and bigger boys.
Isn't that overstating things a bit? Cardinals and Blue Jays may be pretty but they are sadistic monsters to other birds. I will never forget seeing a cardinal peck a black-capped chickadee to death for the crime of being at the bird feeder when the cardinal wanted to feed.
Nature is cruel. Animals are cruel.
If we get rid of all prey animals it would not change a thing as animals are real jerks to each other.
Now do I think feral animals have to be controlled? Yes. But why are they singling out cats when there were over a half dozen animals named that are possibly causing problems?
Invasive species are a fact, not a “Leftist point of view.”
No one can say that Freepers lack a sense of humor! LOL!!
How about we cull scientists?
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