Britain's Cats Called The 'Worst Killers Of All'
By Charles Clover - Environment Editor
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
1-31-01

Britain's nine million cats are the main predators of wildlife, killing an
estimated 275 million animals a year, a survey said yesterday.

Their victims include rare water voles and dormice and the declining
population of house sparrows, the Mammal Society said. The survey, carried
out by the society's youth group, Mammalaction, said the total was made up of
200 million mammals, 55 million birds, 10 million reptiles and amphibians and
10 million other creatures including worms and moths.

Michael Woods, the society's vice-chairman and the survey co-ordinator, said
that cats gave "considerable cause for concern" on conservation grounds. He
said: "Cats range up to 0.6 of a mile away each night and have a territory of
70 acres. Many owners think that when their cat brings home a mouse it is
suppressing the rodent population, but cats are killing animals on a much
wider scale."

Professor Stephen Harris, of Bristol University, chairman of the society,
said: "As there are 26 times more cats than foxes and six times more cats
than all wild terrestrial predators combined, no one can doubt that cats can
be a very serious problem for wildlife. However, no one wishes to play down
the joy and comfort that cats can bring to their owners."

The survey, called Look What the Cat Brought In, suggests a number of ways to
reduce the killing. One is that cat owners should feed garden birds. Cats in
such gardens kill fewer birds, probably because more food means more birds
and the birds need to spend less time searching for food and are therefore
less exposed.

Mr Woods said: "Cats wearing bells and those that were kept in at night kill
fewer mammals. Bells give a warning and wild mammals are mainly nocturnal, so
keeping cats in cuts down on mousing time."