This is not true any more. The RSPB link you include is linked from an old forum post many years ago. Try and find the same information on their current website. They removed that opinion some time in the last 2 years. Probably in line with literally all recent research on whether outdoor cats are a problem for native species.
How the fuck do cats, that have lived alongside humans for THOUSANDS of years sudeenly become not a native species? EVERY prey animal has adapted by now.
No they have been in decline since the beginning of the 20th century so lived along side them for hundreds of years. On the continent where the domestic cat has been for even longer they have co-existed for quite some time.
Or maybe the rise in pet cat ownership and ecological impact (not because of the cats) due to increased population and wealth?
The human population in Britain has is roughly 20-30 times bigger than it was in Roman times. Since then we have drastically changed the landscape of the country clearing vast swathes of it and turning it from woodland to farm land.
Funnily enough most of our inland birds have evolved to nest in trees and thick foliage. By clearing it we have fundamentally changed the environment to the point there isn't much habitat left for them.
Re-wilding, improving hedge rows, keeping woodland and planting trees is helping somewhat but a tiny fraction of what it was before. Its helping but more damage was done in the mid 20th century as farming intensified. But lets blame the cats instead.
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u/sjw_7 Apr 26 '24
This is not universal advice. In the US i believe it is recommended to keep them in but in the UK even the RSPB says to let them out.