Can You Protect Biodiversity and Own a Cat? Explore the Impact!

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The story begins in a familiar way. A friend of a friend has kittens to give away. They’re reportedly adorable. How could they not be? The kids confirm the most widely agreed upon fact: “They’re just too cute!” The little striped gray kitten with bright eyes wins everyone over… almost. A high-stakes diplomatic battle ensues.

An outright refusal is unacceptable, I’m seen as a heartless monster. The kitten wins without uttering a single word. Its mere look ends the debate; it was bound to happen. Everyone promises: “It will be nice, cuddly, and won’t hunt.” I don’t believe it for a second. I’ve lost. It won’t be my cat, it will be theirs, I’m not involved in this. Easy…

Months have passed. The feline is on the lookout in the garden, far from Instagram and TikTok where many of its peers end up. The children have moved on. Not me. Between guilt and resignation, I constantly ponder this story that actually began about 10,000 years ago.

Back then, in the renowned Fertile Crescent — from the Nile to the Tigris — the domestication of wheat drastically changed the course of humanity. Emerging agriculture allowed hunter-gatherers to settle down and establish permanent villages. What does this have to do with the cat in the garden?

Well, human dwellings thus became a veritable grain reserve for local wild rodents. These rodents had already been approaching the semi-nomadic human camps in the Levant for centuries. Where there’s a concentration of mice, there’s a feast for predators. Among them, the African wildcat.

The close proximity between this Felis silvestris lybica and humans clearly became a mutually beneficial relationship. So much so that a process of domestication gradually took place. Was it Homo sapiens who domesticated the wildcat, or was it the other way around? The question remains. Regardless, the grain-mouse-cat food chain has never been broken. Human migrations from Mesopotamia certainly took place alongside domestic cats.

Back to the garden. I don’t have a full attic, no gray mice to eliminate, what is this cat doing at my place? And that one, black and white, at the neighbor’s? And the other, a ginger by the hedgerow? It would take too long to recount ten millennia of our relationships with toms, queens, and other moggies.

From a useful companion to a true deity, the creature has become a demi-god of couches and screens. And as the one I’m watching likely eyes a wall lizard, I have a slight problem with His Holiness. I approach, clap my hands to thwart his plan. My temporary satisfaction is worthless against the infinite patience of this idle being. He will eventually catch the reptile sooner or later.

For many naturalists, siding with the wild often seems straightforward. But, like any certainty, it hides meanders of social and philosophical considerations in which it is easy to get lost. “If you don’t like cats, you don’t like animals!” A crude syllogism, and besides, I never said that.

“What is nature? Your vegetable garden isn’t nature. Is the swallow that only nests in houses nature?” Good questions. Yet, should millions of animals fed by humans for mere human pleasure add their artificial predation on already fragile biodiversity without us being allowed to question it legitimately? Not to mention the rabbits, cattle, or tuna turned into cat food… If the hundreds of millions of dogs and cats formed a country, it would be the fifth largest meat consumer in the world!

It’s a losing battle, the fragile slow worm or the torn butterfly doesn’t stand a chance. While the impact of introduced cats on islands is undeniable and well-documented, it is commonly downplayed elsewhere. The significance of the risk might be debatable in cities, where the wild no longer really exists, granted… But it’s concerning in rural areas, where small birds, mammals, and reptiles intertwine their vital territories with ours. Victims of intensive agriculture and many other surrounding upheavals, the small fauna that takes refuge in gardens and ornamental hedges is preyed upon by relentless domestic claws.

The complexity of the subject is infinite, and I acknowledge that the domesticated cat as a living being is not responsible for the situation. But one must wonder why, in the face of this adoration, our society struggles so much to give more space to the wild. There are only about one lynx for every 150,000 pet cats in France, and only one wildcat for every 2,000 domestic cats in Switzerland! Why does human empathy more readily turn towards the chicken eaten by a marten than towards the shrew bled by a house cat?

All domestic cats in the world are descended from a single ancestor, the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), at the time humans settled down at least 10,000 years ago. After centuries of crossbreeding and selection, Felis (silvestris) catus now includes about sixty officially recognized breeds, in a variety of sizes and colors. When it returns to nature, without human ties, the domestic cat is referred to as a feral cat. Not to be confused with the wildcat native to our regions, Felis silvestris silvestris.

The wildcat, although expanding in some regions with the return of the forest, is threatened by crossing with its domestic cousin. A 2020 Europe-wide study shows variable rates of hybridization: from 5% in Central and Eastern Europe to over 20% in Italy or Scotland. In Switzerland, this rate is estimated at 15%, while it reached 24% in France according to a 2009 study. With the continuous growth of the pet cat population, the indigenous wild form is at risk of eventual extinction.

Ancient Egypt elevated the cat to the highest possible rank. Initially with the sun god Re, of which the feline was one of the various existing representations. Then with Bastet, goddess of joy, home, the warmth of the sun, and maternity. The animal worship in Egypt was highlighted by the discovery of numerous relics of mummified cats. Modern veneration now occurs through their display on social media, sometimes at their expense. The quest for buzz indeed generates numerous instances of mistreatment…

It is estimated that there are 15 million domestic cats in France. And possibly double that when considering undeclared free-roaming individuals. In Switzerland, this figure reaches 1.85 million, while it exceeds 2.5 million in Belgium. As with dogs, these numbers are on the rise.

This article is from the “Orchid Loves” issue released in April 2025.