Editor:
Recently I took a photo of a beautiful songbird sunning itself peacefully in our garden, and during the last few days, I’ve been listening to their lovely songs.
But this native wild species is in danger from predation by neighbourhood domestic cats, which are known to kill well over 100 million songbirds annually in North America alone.
This predation of wild species, by an introduced species, has serious environmental consequences, since wild birds consume vast quantities of insects that can damage food crops. Loss of birds mean consequent increases in the use of pesticides, which will further kill more birds and other wildlife, and may also lead to increases in cancers in the human population.
People are very affectionate of their cats, so they should keep them safely indoors and protected from coyotes, raccoons, hawks, eagles, dogs and traffic. People should also be mindful of their responsibility to keep native wild species protected from predation by their pet cats.
Sarama, Gibsons
