Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss

Doherty and colleagues assessed the contribution of invasive predators, prominently including feral cats, to global vertebrate extinctions and declines. Analyzing threatened and extinct species worldwide, they found that invasive mammalian predators have been implicated in a large share of recent extinctions, with cats, rodents, dogs, pigs and other introduced predators collectively responsible for the loss or endangerment of hundreds of species, especially on islands. Cats specifically were linked to numerous bird, mammal and reptile extinctions. The study quantified the outsized role of these predators relative to their number and highlighted the concentration of impacts on island endemics. It strengthened the case for managing invasive predators as a conservation priority and situated the domestic cat among the most consequential introduced predators in the global extinction record.