{"id":2315,"date":"2016-01-05T20:15:09","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T20:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/?p=2315"},"modified":"2016-10-12T20:56:57","modified_gmt":"2016-10-12T20:56:57","slug":"the-claws-are-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/en\/the-claws-are-out\/","title":{"rendered":"The Claws are Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cw_jf2016_birding\"Cat owners need to think about the impact their pets have on bird populations \u2014 and not just for the sake of the birds.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This column will undoubtedly make me very unpopular with some readers and very popular with others. But as a responsible, bird-loving wildlife biologist, I cannot ignore it. I\u2019m talking about the danger cats \u2014 both feral and domestic \u2014 pose to bird populations. I have actually written a whole book on the subject, but no publisher to date will touch it for fear of angering both cat-lovers and bird-lovers. So, I\u2019ll take my chances here \u2014 speaking as a lover of both cats and birds.<\/p>\n

HOW BAD ARE CATS FOR BIRDS?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two years ago, scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that domestic cats in the United States, both free-ranging pet cats and the feral variety, kill roughly 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals a year. In Canada, a study by the National Wildlife Research Centre in Ottawa came to a similar finding. Between 100 million and 350 million Canadian birds \u2014 two to seven per cent of our birds \u2014 fall victim each year to our 8.5 million free-ranging pet cats and 1.4 million to 4.2 million feral cats.<\/p>\n

Bird populations can ill afford this source of mortality. About 1,200 bird species are expected to become extinct in the next 100 years for a variety of reasons, most notably habitat loss and degradation. Cats can wipe out the remaining few birds of an endangered species; they also offer competition for natural predators for food.<\/p>\n

THIS ISN\u2019T ONLY ABOUT BIRDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Roughly half of owned pet cats run free outdoors. While not all pet cats hunt birds, many of them do. They do so regardless of whether they are well fed or not. Most cat-lovers believe that their pets do not kill birds or if they do, it is not a problem.<\/p>\n

Well, it is a problem, and not just for birds. Putting one\u2019s cat outdoors can also be a problem for the cat. Millions of cats are killed and maimed by vehicles each year all over the world. Both of the pet cats I owned as a young man eventually became roadkill. Cats also become caught in traps, ingest poisonous substances, and risk being killed or wounded by dogs or wild predators like coyotes and tree-climbing fishers. Sometimes cats are deliberately hurt or killed by cat-hating humans or simply wander off for no apparent reason.<\/p>\n

IGNORE THE ISSUE AT YOUR OWN RISK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ignorance of this problem is not bliss. If we citizens do not act, then politicians will, sometimes passing draconian laws. More and more municipalities all over the world are passing cat-control legislation. Limits are being placed on the number of cats one can own, and cat-owners are being forced to restrain their pets, either by use of leashes or outdoor enclosures or by keeping them indoors. Passing such legislation, though, can be very divisive and usually ends up costing taxpayers money.<\/p>\n

Many of my friends and former university students, all wildlife-lovers in their own right, own cats, and many allow them to run free outside. I do not despise them for it, but I do confess that it makes me feel sad and frustrated. And I know that it is difficult, if not impossible, to suddenly confine an outdoor cat to the indoors. So how about this suggestion \u2014 why not at least make your next pet cat an indoor one right from the beginning? Less wildlife will be killed, and your cat will likely live a long and healthy life.<\/p>\n

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Reprinted from <\/em>Canadian Wildlife magazine. Get more information or subscribe now<\/a>! Now on newsstands! Or, get your digital edition today<\/a>! <\/em>Preview digital copy \u00bb<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Biosphere_JF2016_birding\"<\/h2>\n

Toutes griffes dehors<\/h2>\n

\"bio_jf2016_birding\"Les propri\u00e9taires de chats doivent \u00eatre conscients de l\u2019impact de leurs prot\u00e9g\u00e9s sur les populations d\u2019oiseaux \u2014 et pas seulement au b\u00e9n\u00e9fice des oiseaux.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cette chronique va tr\u00e8s probablement me valoir des inimiti\u00e9s parmi certains lecteurs et me rendre tr\u00e8s populaire parmi d\u2019autres. Mais \u00e0 titre de biologiste responsable, amoureux des oiseaux, je ne peux pas ignorer la question. Je parle du danger que repr\u00e9sentent les chats \u2014 domestiques aussi bien que f\u00e9raux \u2014 pour les populations d\u2019oiseaux. J\u2019ai m\u00eame \u00e9crit un livre entier sur la question, mais aucun \u00e9diteur ne veut y toucher, de peur de provoquer la col\u00e8re des ornithophiles aussi bien que des fanatiques des chats. C\u2019est donc dans ma propre chronique que je vais me risquer \u2014 en tant qu\u2019amoureux de ces deux classes de vert\u00e9br\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

LES CHATS SONT-ILS VRAIMENT SI MENA\u00c7ANTS POUR LES OISEAUX?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Les chats sont-ils vraiment si mena\u00e7ants pour les oiseaux? Il y a deux ans, des scientifiques de l\u2019Institut Smithsonian de conservation biologique et du Service am\u00e9ricain des p\u00eacheries et de la faune ont estim\u00e9 qu\u2019aux \u00c9tats-Unis, les chats domestiques, qu\u2019il s\u2019agisse d\u2019animaux familiers en libert\u00e9 ou de la vari\u00e9t\u00e9 f\u00e9rale, c\u2019est-\u00e0-dire retourn\u00e9e \u00e0 la vie sauvage, tuent chaque ann\u00e9e 2,4 milliards d\u2019oiseaux et 12,3 milliards de petits mammif\u00e8res. Au Canada, on calcule qu\u2019entre 100 et 350 millions d\u2019oiseaux \u2014 de 2 \u00e0 4 % de nos populations \u2014 sont victimes de nos 8,5 millions de chats domestiques en libert\u00e9, et de 1,4 \u00e0 4,2 millions de chats f\u00e9raux.<\/p>\n

C\u2019est un niveau de mortalit\u00e9 que les populations d\u2019oiseaux ne peuvent pas vraiment se permettre. On pr\u00e9voit qu\u2019environ 1 200 esp\u00e8ces d\u2019oiseaux conna\u00eetront l\u2019extinction au cours des 100 prochaines ann\u00e9es pour diverses raisons, mais en particulier la destruction et la d\u00e9gradation des habitats. Les chats peuvent exterminer les quelques survivants d\u2019une esp\u00e8ce en voie d\u2019extinction, tandis qu\u2019ils entrent aussi en comp\u00e9tition pour la nourriture avec des esp\u00e8ces pr\u00e9datrices.<\/p>\n

MAIS IL NE S\u2019AGIT PAS SEULEMENT DES OISEAUX<\/strong><\/p>\n

Environ la moiti\u00e9 des chats domestiques circulent \u00e0 l\u2019ext\u00e9rieur en libert\u00e9. Tous ne chassent pas les oiseaux, mais beaucoup le font, qu\u2019ils soient bien nourris ou pas. La plupart des propri\u00e9taires de chats ne croient pas que leurs petits ch\u00e9ris tuent des oiseaux et, s\u2019ils le font, ils ne sont pas convaincus que cela constitue un probl\u00e8me.<\/p>\n

Eh bien, c\u2019est un probl\u00e8me et pas seulement pour les oiseaux. Laisser sortir son chat peut aussi devenir un probl\u00e8me pour le chat. Des millions de chats sont tu\u00e9s ou estropi\u00e9s par des v\u00e9hicules chaque ann\u00e9e dans le monde. Deux des chats que j\u2019ai eus dans ma jeunesse ont fini sous les roues d\u2019une auto. Les chats peuvent se prendre dans des pi\u00e8ges, ing\u00e9rer des substances toxiques ou \u00eatre bless\u00e9s ou tu\u00e9s par des chiens ou des pr\u00e9dateurs sauvages comme des coyotes ou des p\u00e9kans capables de grimper aux arbres. Il arrive aussi que des chats soient d\u00e9lib\u00e9r\u00e9ment malmen\u00e9s ou tu\u00e9s par des humains sadiques ou qu\u2019ils aillent se perdre sans raison apparente.<\/p>\n

SI VOUS IGNOREZ LA QUESTION, C\u2019EST \u00c0 VOS PROPRES RISQUES<\/strong><\/p>\n

Il n\u2019y a pas de bonheur dans l\u2019insouciance. Si nous, les citoyens, n\u2019agissons pas, alors les politiciens le feront, parfois en votant des lois draconiennes. De plus en plus de municipalit\u00e9s partout dans le monde adoptent des r\u00e9glementations de r\u00e9pression des chats. On limite le nombre de chats permis par unit\u00e9 d\u2019habitation et les propri\u00e9taires se voient forc\u00e9s de restreindre la libert\u00e9 de leurs favoris, soit en les tenant en laisse, en les enfermant dans un enclos ou carr\u00e9ment en les gardant \u00e0 l\u2019int\u00e9rieur. L\u2019adoption de ce genre de l\u00e9gislation s\u00e8me g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement la discorde et finit par co\u00fbter cher aux contribuables.<\/p>\n

Beaucoup de mes amis et de mes anciens \u00e9tudiants, tous amoureux sinc\u00e8res de la nature, poss\u00e8dent des chats et les laissent courir librement. Je ne les m\u00e9prise pas pour autant, mais je reconnais que cela m\u2019attriste et me frustre. Et je sais combien il est difficile, voire impossible, d\u2019enfermer tout \u00e0 coup un chat habitu\u00e9 \u00e0 courir librement. J\u2019offre cette suggestion pour ce qu\u2019elle vaut : pourquoi ne pas choisir comme prochain animal familier un chat d\u2019int\u00e9rieur? Il fera moins de victimes parmi ses voisins sauvages et il conna\u00eetra une vie longue et sereine.<\/p>\n

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Ce suppl\u00e9ment se rapporte au magazine <\/em>Biosph\u00e8re. Pour plus de renseignements ou pour vous abonner, cliquez ici<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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