Domestic cats are essentially introduced | invasive everywhere surely?

    It turns out that domesticated cats have no native range. Originally bred from wild cats and introduced to North America by European colonists, domesticated cats are now listed as one of the top 100 invasive species worldwide by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cats-invasive-species-in-your-b...

It's not just Australia they were introduced into.

In most European countries there is no "original" nature left (many thousands of years of humans changing the environment) so talking about invasive species etc. in relation to cats doesn't really make sense there.

In the context of a claim that Australia is unique in considering domestic cats invasive most European countries are irrelevant given the entire New World as sufficient counter example.

The post I replied to makes a broader point than just Australia ("invasive everywhere").

The post you replied to questioned whether they were considered invasive everywhere and asserted that they were on a global list of the 100 worst invasive species.

All as counter to the claim that Australia was unique in considering cats a nuisance.

It seems that assertion is true:

    38. Felis catus

    Felis catus was domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean c. 3000 years ago. Considering the extent to which cats are valued as pets, it is not surprising that they have since been translocated by humans to almost all parts of the world.

    Notable predators, cats threaten native birdlife and other fauna, especially on islands where native species have evolved in relative isolation from predators.

    Common Names: cat, domestic cat, feral cat, Hauskatze, house cat, poti, pusiniveikau

GLOBAL INVASIVE SPECIES DATABASE

http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/100_worst.php

Is there nowhere in Europe where cat populations are kept in check to protect birdlife and other local native species?

In Western Europe, not really to that end other than quite localised.

But even then the discussion has to be what is a native species (with birds that can get quite odd with species disappearing and reappearing hundreds of years later, for example). There is just no real nature left, i.e., more about deciding when to make a cut.

This has to be one of the wackiest takes on cat domestication I have ever read. Cats were domesticated long before Europeans showed up in North America.

That's exactly what the admittedly clumsy quote says if you reparse it.

> Originally bred from wild cats

Once wild, now domesticated ..

> introduced to North America by European colonists

what was introduced to North America?

> domesticated cats are now listed as ...

oh, yeah, domesticated cats were introduced to North America.