- Everybody loves a kitty, but one million kitties on a small island is a few too many.
Cyprus is a beautiful island in the Mediterranean that’s a tourism hotbed. One of the most significant draws bringing in visitors are the island’s many semi-feral cats that walk freely on its streets.
In recent years, however, it has become clear that Cyprus is having too much of a good thing.
Although the island has a millennia-long history of loving cats, the local authorities and residents have recently started ringing alarm bells about Cyprus’ cat population. The roaming kitties are slowly starting to take over Cyprus.
With as many cats as there are human residents, it’s no wonder Cypriots are getting fed up. There isn’t naturally enough food on the islands for all the cats, but tourists have helped them prosper.
Food gifts from tourists have kept the cats alive. This, however, causes a spiral of more kittens being born, and the number of mouths is going up all the time.
Now, Cypriot authorities have announced that they’re taking action. The island’s cat sterilization program is set to receive triple the budget it has operated on so far.
However, some are saying that all the money will do no good if there’s no solid plan to control the kitties. Meanwhile, the unherded cats just keep multiplying.
Cats, Cats Everywhere
Cyprus is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean region, between Greece and Turkey. With a rich culture and a long, colorful history, Cyprus is a very popular tourist destination.
One of the sights people around the world flock to Cyprus to see are the cats. The island has long loved cats, and today there are many felines, tame and feral, roaming its streets.
Too many felines. In fact, there are as many cats as there are people on Cyprus — if not more.
Roughly one million people live on Cyprus, and the official estimates state that there are roughly a million cats as well. In other words, everyone on Cyprus gets a kitty.
Animal rights activists, however, claim that the official cat count is way below reality. According to their tallies, there are several hundred thousand more cats, with 1.5 million kitties being a more accurate estimate.
A Feline Spiral
Cat lovers might think Cyprus sounds like a paradise, but the massive cat population comes with its problems. The first is that you can’t go anywhere without running into cats, which can get tiring no matter how much you like them.
Additionally, the cats have largely exhausted naturally available forms of food, such as rats. While a vermin-free society sounds nice, it again has its issues.
Many of the cats survive almost entirely on food that tourists and locals give them. So, whereas natural environmental pressure should’ve already started culling the cats, they’re going strong with people’s help.
With plentiful food, the cats are able to have more babies, and more of the kittens survive to adulthood. They then become reliant on food given to them by people, and…
You can probably figure out why this spiral is a problem. Cyprus’ cat population is already above what the island can naturally support, and the cats just keep on breeding.
‘There Has to Be a Plan’
To be fair, Cyprus’ authorities are aware that uncontrolled breeding is pushing the island toward a cat-pocalypse. To try and control the meowing masses, Cyprus has a sterilization program, but it’s woefully underfunded.
Again, the authorities know this. With that in mind, they announced in early October that they would triple the funding given for cat sterilization efforts from $100,000 to $300,000.
That’s good. But some politicians and veterinarians are pointing out that the cat issue can’t be resolved simply by throwing more money at it.
“There has to be a plan. We can’t just go ahead with sterilizations without having a plan,” Charalambo Theopemptou, chairman of the Parliamentary Environmental Committee, told the Associated Press.
Fortunately, there are people who have a plan. Demetris Epaminondas, president of the Cyprus Veterinary Association, believes the cat crisis could be ended in as few as four years.
That, Epaminondas, can be achieved is the government directs the extra funding toward private veterinary clinics so that they can offer free neutering without any bureaucracy.
Neutering a feral female cat costs roughly $60 on Cyprus. A housecat’s sterilization, meanwhile, will cost its owner around $150 because of the extended care the cat gets.
With the new funds, Cyprus could provide cost-free neutering to any cat taken to a vet, argued Epaminondas.
“People will be more motivated to get cats neutered if we make it easier for them to do so,” he said.
Cat Lovers Forever
The state could partially offset the costs of the neutering program by starting a fund where volunteers and organizations could make donations, said Epaminondas. It’s likely Cypriots would donate, too, because they love their cats.
The island’s love affair with kitties stretches back thousands of years. According to a legend, the majority of Cypriot cats are descended from those brought over by Saint Helen in the 4th century to rid the island of snakes.
In fact, there is still a monastery, St. Nicholas of the Cats, that serves as a cat sanctuary on Cyprus.
However, there have certainly been cats on Cyprus for much longer. In the 2000s, archeologists unearthed the oldest known domestic cat in the world on Cyprus.
The eight-month-old kitten was discovered in a grave that is an estimated 10,000 years old. The kitty had been buried with its owner, and the two had been placed to cuddle each other for all eternity.
So, yeah. They do love cats on Cyprus.