KOMPAS.com - Film kartun "Sylvester dan Tweetie" yang menampilkan dua karakter kucing dan burung yang sering bertengkar ternyata bukan tanpa dasar. Orang sejak lama mungkin tahu bahwa burung dan kucing memang sulit akur seperti halnya kucing dan anjing. Namun, hasil penelitian terbaru menguatkan hal tersebut.
Kucing bahkan ternyata merupakan salah satu hewan yang menjadi musuh utama burung. Misalnya kucing dengan burung kucing (catbird), jenis burung yang kicauannya mirip suara meongnya kucing. Hal tersebut terungkap dalam studi yang dipublikasikan di The Journal of Ornithology.
Adalah Peter Marra dari Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute yang mengungkap hal tersebut. Ia mengetahuinya setelah melakukan survei pada catbird dan kucing di wilayah suburban Washington, Amerika Serikat.
"Kucing termasuk sangat berpengaruh dalam hal ancaman pada burung. Mereka adalah kekuatan tangguh untuk mengalahkan atau mengusir spesies burung," ungkap Marra pada harian The New York Times.
Berdasarkan data Smithsonian Institution, hampir 80 persen burung terbunuh oleh predator dan kucing bertanggung jawab terhadap 47 persen dari jumlah kematian burung tersebut. Kematian tergolong tinggi di pemukiman yang padat populasi kucingnya.
American Bird Conservacy memperkirakan, sejumlah 500 juta burung terbunuh oleh kucing. Pimpinan organisasi itu Darin Schroeder mengatakan, "Saya harap kita mulai meminimalkan dampak kucing terhadap lingkungan dan mulai serius melihat kasus predasi kucing."
Jumlah kematian burung oleh kucing ini lebih besar dibanding jumlah kematian oleh kincir angin. Berdasarkan data US Fish and Wildlife Service, diketahui 440.000 burung terbunuh akibat kincir angin. Tentang masalah ancaman kincir angin, para ahli konservasi mengatakan bahwa mereka sebenarnya menyambut baik kincir sebagai pembangkit energi. Namun, mereka mengusulkan adanya kincir yang "smart" sehingga tak membahayakan burung.
Really Cats Birds Main Enemy
KOMPAS.com - Film cartoon "Sylvester and Tweetie" featuring two characters are cats and birds often fight was not without basis. People long ago might know that birds and cats are difficult to get along like cats and dogs. However, the results of recent studies confirm this.
Cats even turned out to be one of the animals that became the main enemy of the bird. For example, cats with cat birds (catbird), bird species meongnya voice booms like a cat. This is revealed in a study published in The Journal of Ornithology.
Is Peter Marra of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute that revealed it. He learned that after doing a survey on the catbird and cats in the area of suburban Washington, United States.
Is Peter Marra of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute that revealed it. He learned that after doing a survey on the catbird and cats in the area of suburban Washington, United States.
"Cats, including very influential in terms of threats to birds. They are a formidable force to defeat or repel species of birds," said Marra on The New York Times.
Based on data from the Smithsonian Institution, nearly 80 percent of birds killed by predators and cats are responsible for 47 percent of the total bird deaths. Mortality is high in a dense residential population of cats.
American Bird Conservacy estimates, some 500 million birds killed by cats. Leaders of the organization Darin Schroeder said, "I hope we begin to minimize the impact of cats on the environment and begin to seriously look at the case of cat predation."
The number of deaths of birds by cats is greater than the number of deaths by windmills. Based on data from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, found 440,000 birds killed by windmills. On the issue of the threat of windmills, conservation experts say they actually welcome the windmills to generate energy. However, they proposed a windmill that "smart" so that does not harm birds.