Pet Alert

[Carey]

Bystander & Buzz, the endangered species problem in Hawaii is not just from feral cats. An excellant resource book on the ecology of the Hawaiian Islands is "Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology and Evolution" Alan Ziegler, University of Hawaii Press 2002. Hawaiian species have the highest threatened status of any state. Most of the problems stem from the fact that many of species adapted to life with no large predators, and few diseases prelavant on the islands. When humans first made contact with the islands, there had already been species that were threaten, and some had gone extinct. As we brought more animals & diseases and competive plants, more species have become endangered and extinct. Although feral cats are a problem g with ground nesting bird species, so are rats, mongoose, pigs, goats, feral dogs, cattle, and the most virulent - the mosquito, which, with avian pox & malaria, has placed many more birds in danger of extinction.
A domestic cat that is spayed/neutered & stays indoors is not too much of a threat to the species of Hawaii.
Aloha, Carey