These otherwise adorable companions constitute a major threat to wildlife

Jan 30, 2013 07:27 GMT  ·  By

According to a new report made public by researchers in the United States, cats are by no means as lovely and as adorable as we think they are. Quite the contrary: these furry companions of ours are vicious killers, and must be held accountable for the yearly death of billions of birds and other animals.

In all fairness, everybody who owns a cat is well aware of the fact that, more often than not, their laying their eyes on a bird or some other small animal will trigger their predatory instinct.

Thus, it is doubtful that those who own a cat have never had to do some cleaning after they pet went through the trouble of hunting a bird or a small rodent and brought it home.

Still, the news that cats in the United States kill between 2.4 billion to 12.3 billion animals on a yearly basis is bound to take people quite by surprise.

Researchers explain that, more often than not, the animals our beloved pets kill are birds, mice, shrews and moles. Because of this, it is the researchers’ belief that cats constitute a major threat to wildlife and to the country's biodiversity.

According to Daily Mail, most of these animals are killed by cats that have owners, but which are allowed to roam the surroundings of their homes and go wherever they see fit.

Sheer numbers say that cats must be blamed for the yearly death of 1.4billion to 3.7billion birds annually, and 6.9billion to 20.7billion mammals.

“We were absolutely stunned by the results,” commented on these findings Dr. Peter Marra, a researcher presently working with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

This research into the environmental impact of cats was carried out with the support of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the Fish and Wildlife Service. The bulk of its findings were published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.