Cat lovers at Google are to blame for dwindling burrowing owl population, say wildlife activists
It started as a well-meaning effort by Google technology workers to look after feral cats living around their headquarters in Silicon Valley.
But now the felines are suspected of killing rare owls in a nearby wildlife refuge, leading environmentalists to condemn the cat rescue effort. A handful of burrowing owls make their nests in the long grass in Shoreline Park, a 750-acre expanse next to Google’s massive offices at Mountain View, California south of San Francisco.
The cats are thought to have been released by an employee group at the company called GCat Rescue.
They set out to trap feral cats, putting captured kittens and tame adults up for adoption. More aggressive adults are neutered and released with tacking chips.
Feeding stations were then set up near the offices, a process the group describes as “colony care”.
On its website GCat Rescue said: “Neutering and colony care also stop nuisance behaviours like fighting, screaming, spraying, roaming, hunting, etc…”
However, wildlife groups and scientists dispute the claim, saying cats continue to hunt despite access to feeding stations.
They would also exist in fewer numbers near Shoreline Park without the support of humans.
Johanna van de Woestijne, a retired medical researcher and amateur photographer, said the cats were now in their element with free food, plus animals to chase.
She said: “They are instinctive predators and I’ve seen the cats in full pursuit, as well as in ambush pouncing mode, just 100ftt from a fully stocked 24/7 drop down feeding station.”
Eileen McLaughlin, of the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, said Shoreline Park – built on a former landfill site – was a crucial habitat for the dwindling band of owls.
She said: “Cats are wonderful pets, but there is this conflict outdoors with the problem of maintaining our wildlife, and the struggle with the burrowing owl is emblematic of that.
“If we want our wildlife we have to recognise that these cats are people-dependent, and the people who maintain these colonies are actually facilitating their ability to survive outside. They (the cats) can’t do it without human help.”
The owls’ behaviour makes them particularly prone to predators during their nesting season when they lay eggs in burrows.
They have already disappeared from many California counties making Shoreline Park all the more important.
Ms McLaughlin said that Google had been an excellent partner on other wildlife issues but had failed to respond when her organisation asked for cat feeding stations to be removed, and presented evidence of the damage to the owl population.
On a recent visit to the park she saw only a single nesting owl, she added..
She said: “When there’s a a lot of competition and predation they have a much harder time. In our county of California the birds are getting very close to extirpation, in other words not existing at all.”
Source : https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/28/cat-lovers-google-blame-dwindling-burrowing-owl-population-say/
