As an environmental educator there was a popular story that we used to illustrate how everything is connected, and how one step can sometimes have a chain of unanticipated consequences that disturb the delicate balance of nature. The story goes thus:

In the early 1950s, there was a severe outbreak of malaria amongst the Dayak people in Borneo. The World Health Organization tried to solve the problem. They sprayed large amounts of a chemical called DDT to kill the mosquitoes that carried the malaria. The mosquitoes died and there was less malaria. That was good. However, there were side effects. One of the first effects was that the roofs of people’s houses began to fall down on their heads. It turned out that the DDT was also killing a parasitic wasp that ate thatch-eating caterpillars. Without the wasps to eat them, there were more and more thatch-eating caterpillars. Worse than that, the insects that died from being poisoned by DDT were eaten by gecko lizards, which were then eaten by cats. The cats started to die, the rats flourished, and the people were threatened by outbreaks of two new serious diseases carried by the rats, sylvatic plague and typhus. To cope with these problems, which it had itself created, the World Health Organization had to parachute live cats into Borneo. Operation Cat Drop as it was called, air dropped a number of cats (numbers range from 20 to 1400!) into the region. This step was visualized as the initiation of a reverse cycle that could restore the chain of predator-prey, wherein the cats would feed on the rats which were posing the public health challenge.  The story did not continue to describe the new consequences of this step.

I remembered this story when I read a recent report where the problem and not the solution has started with cats!

This is on the small island nation of Cyprus in the eastern corner of the Mediterranean where currently cats outnumber the local human population!

Cyprus has a long history associated with cats. It is believed that cats were first domesticated in Ancient Egypt. But archaeological discoveries of cat remains close to human burial sites in sites in Cyprus dating back around 9500 years ago indicate that the interactions between humans and cats may have started here much earlier. It is speculated that cats must have been introduced to the island from the mainland, and there are several stories about this. One legend states that in AD 328 Saint Helena, a Roman Empress began construction on a monastery on the island. At that time a terrible drought afflicted the area, people fled and snakes proliferated. Helena got boatloads of cats shipped over from Egypt and established them in the area to destroy the snakes. The monastery was built, but also destroyed later and subsequently rebuilt several times. But the cats remained and thrived, and established themselves as an unofficial sub-breed known as the Cyprus Cat.

There is still a monastery, St. Nicholas of the Cats, that is believed to have been founded by St. Helena and where there are some cats which are purported to be the descendants of the original cats! The monastery has a tradition of taking in any stray cat brought to them in honour of the centuries of service of the felines. Cyprus itself is an island of cat nurturers where cat food dispensaries and other cat services are a common sight. This has also added to its tourist attractions (albeit for cat lovers!).

Cyprus Cats are part of the island’s identity; they are an example of how ecology, cultural history and animal love intersect. But they are also an example of how too much of a good thing can be counterproductive.

With the passage of time, no outside interference, and favourable conditions, the cat population on the island continued to grow. Unchecked breeding, especially in urban areas has now turned into an explosion of feral cats. The cats now outnumber humans. And that is a matter of concern for the civic authorities. Given cats’ predatory nature, a larger than sustainable population has the potential to wreak havoc with the island’s ecosystem. The feral cats threaten local wildlife, they become urban traffic hazards as they scavenge for food in the populated areas, and they themselves carry threat of diseases which could spread rapidly if there is an outbreak. Without sustainable measures the situation can reach an irreversible point. And ecologists are concerned that this point is close.

In recent years there have been programmes to control the cat population through sterilization, but the numbers have now exceeded manageable limits. The civic authorities feel the effective control and management of the issue needs huge funding, as well as a concerted effort which includes the active participation of NGOs, national as well as international animal welfare organisations, volunteers, the general public, as well as the tourists.

While the parachuted cats of the Borneo story became the saviours of the moment, it would be interesting to go back and review whether the cats, in turn, impacted the ecosystem. Meanwhile the Cyprus Cats continue to challenge the fragile balance.

–Mamata