Research overview: prey naivety and felid introductions on islands

An overview of why island faunas that evolved without mammalian predators are devastated when cats are introduced. Lacking evolved anti-predator defenses, island birds, reptiles and small mammals are naive and easily caught, so introduced and feral cats have driven numerous extinctions and remain a leading cause of vertebrate loss on islands worldwide. This survey synthesizes the concept of prey naivety, the disproportionate impact of cats as novel predators, documented island extinctions and declines, and the eradication and control programs used to reverse them. It connects predator-prey coevolution theory to one of conservation's most acute problems. The topic underscores how the absence of a shared evolutionary history between cats and prey produces extreme, often catastrophic predation impacts.