Biodiversity Protection

Cats can and will prey on all kinds of wildlife, but we are especially concerned about the impacts that they have on four species: the California least tern, California Ridgway’s rails, western snowy plovers, and salt marsh harvest mice. If these birds and mice were widespread and common, we wouldn’t be as worried, but these species have lost about 95% of their tidal wetland habitat and are all listed as either threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The populations of these species are small, and their habitats are extremely limited and under imminent threat from sea-level rise – so any individual that’s lost to a non-native predator has a big impact on the species' persistence. Also, native predators are usually spread far apart and are limited by available resources. Free-roaming cats are often supplemented, fed, and cared for by people, allowing the density of cats to exceed those of natural predators by many times.

The cats are taken into shelters, fed and kept warm, checked for a microchip, seen by a vet, spayed or neutered, and then assessed for adoption. Ideally, it is our goal for cats removed from our parks to be fostered or adopted by responsible pet owners to live a happy life in a safe indoor environment. Feral cats are adopted out as working cats, placed at factories, warehouses, barns, or other areas where they “work” by hunting rats and mice. At least one of the cats that’s been trapped has been returned to its owner! It had been missing for over a year. This is a great reason to microchip your cat.

The biggest reason is that it’s safest for your cat and for you as well. Indoor cats can live over 15 years while the average lifespan of an outdoor cat is 2-5 years. Outdoor cats are vulnerable to getting hit by cars; diseases and parasites; poisoning; and attack from other cats, dogs, or coyotes. Cats can carry and spread a parasite that causes a disease known as toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis can cause serious health problems in pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems.

Some cats don’t hunt successfully, but a lot of cats also don’t bring home everything they kill. Even if your cat doesn’t kill birds or other wildlife, the mere presence of a cat can impact bird breeding success. One study found that birds would alarm call when a cat was nearby, alerting avian predators like crows to the presence of the nest and facilitating predation of eggs or hatchlings.

What you can do to help:

• Keep your cat indoors or contained if possible.
• Bird nesting season extends from February-August. To protect birds, consider keeping your cat indoors, especially during the nesting season.
• Limit their time outdoors during dawn and dusk hours if they do go out.
• Use a deterrent to hunting if you can. Studies have shown that 87% of birds are expected to be protected when your cat wears a Bird Safe Cat Collar. Bird Safe Cat Collar covers are a tube of bright-colored fabric. You fasten it to your cat’s neck with a breakaway cat collar. The combination of a breakaway collar and Bird Safe Cover ensures your cat’s safety.

Domestic cats are not native to North America. Individually, one cat might not seem like a big deal, but they are extremely efficient predators. When adding up the combined impacts of cats across the US, they are estimated to kill over 1.3 billion birds and over 6 billion mammals annually. Cats have directly contributed to the extinction of birds, mammals, and reptiles across the planet.

What you can do to help:

• Keep your cat indoors or contained if possible.
• Bird nesting season extends from February-August. To protect birds, consider keeping your cat indoors, especially during the nesting season.
• Limit their time outdoors during dawn and dusk hours if they do go out.
• Use a deterrent to hunting if you can. Studies have shown that 87% of birds are expected to be protected when your cat wears a Bird Safe Cat Collar. Bird Safe Cat Collar covers are a tube of bright-colored fabric. You fasten it to your cat’s neck with a breakaway cat collar. The combination of a breakaway collar and Bird Safe Cover ensures your cat’s safety.

TNR refers to “trap-neuter-release”. Many animal shelters and feral cat organizations promote TNR as a way of managing cat colonies. Cats are trapped, neutered or spayed, and then released back to their point of capture – usually a cat colony where cats are regularly fed. Because it is not safe for cats in the parks and cats can harm wildlife, EBRPD instead practices TNT, or “trap-neuter-transfer.” Just like in TNR, trapped cats receive medical care and neuter or spay surgeries. But, instead of being released at their point of capture, TNT cats are assessed for adoption or adopted into a working cat program or to a caretaker who will give them a safe outdoor home away from the parks.