A vacation paradise in the Caribbean is so overrun with feral cats that government officials fear several native species may soon become extinct.
The island is Little Cayman, about 145 miles south of Cuba, and scientists are calling the situation “urgent.”
“#LittleCayman is currently experiencing an environmental crisis,” the Cayman Islands Department of Environment reported in a Sept. 9 Facebook post.
“The island is overrun with a mass of invasive feral cats. These animals are killing our country’s native and protected wildlife, including the red-footed booby, the brown booby and the Sister Islands Rock Iguanas. DOE scientists estimate that some of these species will be extinct on Little Cayman within just a few years.”
An invasive species is an organism that causes ecological or economic harm in a new environment where it is not native. By NOAA
A “viable, humane” control program is desperately needed, but the government doesn’t appear to have found one yet.
Little Cayman is described by island tourism officials as a “serene landscape where the bustle of the birds at the Booby Pond Nature Reserve may be the loudest commotion on land.” It is also considered a “top diving destination,” DiveTraining reports.
Government officials haven’t said exactly how many feral cats are running amok on the island, but it’s bad enough that small groups of some the threatened species are being kept in cages for protection, officials said.
The cats were introduced by humans who “refuse to...
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