The Republic of Cyprus is becoming a feline-filled island

On Oct. 13, it was discovered that in the Republic of Cyprus, located in the east Mediterranean sea, that for every one citizen, there is one feral cat. The cats originally were introduced to the ecosystem to deal with the snake problem, as Cyprus has a high population of snakes that increased in the 1960s, although it’s not fully solved. According to APNews, while the cats have been managing the snake population, the feline population has been increasing, and became a problem, as there are now an estimated 1.5 million feral cats, exceeding the population of Cyprus, which is approximately 1.4 million.

Ryder Rico ‘27 said, “I actually have heard about [the Cyprus cat problem]. I think it’s kind of goofy to introduce cats to deal with the snakes.”

Bear Ogletree ‘29 said, “I think that it was the right decision to add the cats to deal with the snakes.”

All of these feral cats are also unsterilized, and there are only two thousand annual sterilizations a year. The high amount of unsterilized cats create higher risks for rabies, parasites and other diseases. This can also have a negative impact on the natural ecosystem. For example, the cats can spread diseases, or cause native species to compete for food when they did not have to before.

Besides dealing with the snakes, the large amount of cats seem to only be a negative for the island, such as the rising rate of Cat Scratch Disease, and according to Mjima, 10.9% of cats have the condition. The disease is transmitted when a person is bit or scratched by a cat infected with fleas or bites from other infected animals. Cat Scratch Disease is a condition which causes  lymph nodes to swell up, fevers, headaches, rashes and muscle aches, and in rare cases, death. A way to treat the disease is by using prescribed antibiotics, such as Azithromycin for less severe cases and Rifampin in more serious cases.
Nearly 20% of the world’s population has cat allergies, which is at least 1.6 billion people, and that alienates a lot of people from the island. There’s too many cats on the island for what the Cyprus Government was trying to solve.