Study says cats kill 1 million Australian birds a day

Photo: The Guardian

Number is 'staggering' say researchers

The Australian Associated Press says more then 1 million native Austrlian birds are killed across the country by cats every day, new research shows.   The published study estimates feral cats kill 316 million birds a year, while pet cats kill 61 million birds annually; of which more than 99% are native species.   Everyone knows that cats kill birds, but this study shows that, at a national level, the amount of predation is staggering, and is likely to be driving the decline of many species.  Scientists estimate that there are about 11 billion native birds across the country, suggesting cats kill about 4% of the population every year.   Records were found of cats killing 338 species of native birds, of which 71 were threatened species, which amounts to about 60% of the threatened species in Australia.   Feral cats now cover 99.8% of Australia.   And this is just one country in the world.

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BarrytheBirder