Let’s have a chat about a sensitive topic – even though the topic has probably ruined more relationships than chatting about sex, race, religion or politics. The topic is… the impact free-roaming domestic cats have on wild bird populations.

To put it more technically, 58% of bird, mammal and reptile contemporary extinctions worldwide can be attributed to invasive mammalian predators, with cats, rodents, dogs, and pigs threatening the most species overall. Invasive mammalian predators are therefore important drivers of irreversible loss of phylogenetic diversity worldwide. *

* Invasive Predators and Global Biodiversity Loss – Tim S. Doherty, Alistair S. Glen, Dale G. Nimmo, Euan G. Ritchie, and Chris R. Dickman. PNAS – 2016