Research overview: documented island extinctions driven by cats

Feral cats have been implicated in numerous extinctions of island species, and this overview surveys the documented cases and patterns. It examines examples of birds, mammals and reptiles lost or driven to extinction after cats were introduced to islands lacking comparable predators, including iconic cases of single-island endemics, and the broader tally of species cats have helped eliminate. The survey discusses why island faunas are so vulnerable, lacking anti-predator defences and confined to small ranges, and how cats combine with other introduced predators to devastate them. It connects this record to the rationale for island cat eradication programs and to assessments ranking cats among the most damaging invasive species, presenting island extinctions as the starkest evidence of cats' capacity to drive biodiversity loss.