Conservation Comment: Puddy tat damage is not so cute

A cat with a bird that she's caught in her mouth.

Aotearoa is a nation of cat lovers. As a matter of fact, with furry feline friends living in over 40 per cent of our households, more New Zealanders have pet cats than any other nation on earth.

Across the motu, we have a total of more than 1.4 million moggies. And whilst pet cats make for the perfect cuddly companion, the uncomfortable truth is that they also represent a huge threat to our native birds, skinks, geckos and weta. They are cute, fluffy, natural-born killing machines.

When NZ pet owners have been surveyed, the results indicate that the average house cat kills around 13 animals per year.

Whilst this may not sound like much, it adds up to over 18 million animals per year dying at the paws of our furry friends. While 18 million sounds shockingly high, this still doesn't tell the complete picture.

Hidden camera studies have shown that for every kill our cats bring to show us, there are at least four more animals they've killed in secret. This potentially puts their kill count at over 90 million animals per year.

One argument commonly made by cat owners is that their cat catches rats and mice, so really they are giving the birds a helping hand. Unfortunately, research has shown this to be far from the truth, with one year-long study carried out in Dunedin revealing that rodents make up only a quarter of domestic cat kill counts, with our poor native fauna suffering far greater losses than the rats and mice.

So what can we do about this? It is widely accepted that it is not okay for dogs to roam freely. In order to leave the house, a dog is required to be registered, collared, and leashed.

If a dog is caught wandering unsupervised, it is taken away and impounded. Considering the harm that is clearly being done, why do we not hold cats to the same standard?

GPS tracking has revealed that cats travel far greater distances than their owners would expect. In fact, some cats have been observed travelling as far as three kilometres from their homes.

For some reason, it is socially acceptable for these domesticated predators to roam freely and without restraint. This is of particular concern when pet owners live near forests or reserves.

Several city councils in Australia, as well as some parts of the United States, have already introduced 'cat curfews' and other legislation banning cats from public areas. It is time that Aotearoa takes similar action.

Our unique species of wildlife have not evolved means of defending themselves against mammalian predators, and when you combine that lack of defence with the sheer number of cats we have wandering our neighbourhoods and bushland, the results are devastating.

Keeping cats inside at night time is a good starting point, but when you consider that many of our vulnerable birds are most active during the day, this just doesn't go far enough.

Just as we are responsible for picking up the poo of our dogs, we are responsible for the actions of our cats. If we are to protect our vulnerable birds and lizards, we need to change our attitudes to how we let our cats live their lives, and keep them inside our homes so our birds can be safe in their homes.

Tom Hessell is, among other things, an airline pilot, a cat lover, and a long-time conservation enthusiast.