Here's Why House Cats Are Now Considered an 'Invasive Alien Species' in Poland


Domestic cats have been labeled as a "invasive alien species" by a Polish scientific organization.

The house cat (Felis catus), which was domesticated in the Middle East, has been classified as "foreign" by the Polish Academy of Sciences, which also described cats as "invasive" owing to their "bad impact on local biodiversity."

Japanese knotweed, raccoons, clearwing moths, and mandarin ducks are just a few of the many creatures that the Academy considers to be "invasive alien species."

They cite a research suggesting that cats kill and consume between 8.9 and 135.7 million birds and between 48.1 and 583.4 million animals each year in Poland to support their claim that these species constitute "an unknown risk to local biodiversity."

The cat "completely meets" the requirements for inclusion as an alien invasive species, according to Wojciech Solarz, a biologist of the Polish Academy of Sciences, a government-run organization.

Concerned that the designation may encourage the abuse or maltreatment of domestic cats, cat owners and cat lovers have voiced displeasure over the classification.

According to AP, several media accounts gave the incorrect impression that the institution was advocating the killing of feral and other cats.

People are calling the academy's categorization "just foolish and damaging" in comments on its Facebook page, with one person even calling the academy "you stink and are unworthy of your name."

Wojciech Solarz, a biologist at the government-run Polish Academy of Sciences, told AP that he hadn't anticipated the emotional reaction to the F. Catus entry because no other entry had ever elicited it.

Due to the uproar, Solarz competed on national television against cat champion Dorota Suminska, who wrote the book "The Happy Cat."

When speaking about the declining biodiversity, Suminska, a veterinarian, remarked, "Ask if man is on the list of non-invasive alien species." He said that too much responsibility was being unfairly placed on cats.

The negative reaction, according to Solarz, can be the result of misunderstandings, where some believe the Academy is insinuating that people abuse their cats.

The Academy only advised cat owners to restrict their pets' outside time during the mating season for birds.

The Academy stated in a Facebook post earlier this month that they are "opposed to any animal cruelty" in response to the categorization and the subsequent criticism. It was clarified that labeling domestic house cats as invasive alien species does not excuse mistreating them or abandoning them.



This article was originally published by Business Insider.

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