There are more than a million cats in Cyprus – Corona could kill them

2023-07-18 19:29:00

‘Island of Cats’ There are more than a million cats in Cyprus – the coronavirus could kill most of them

If the feline corona virus continues to spread as it has so far, the “Island of Cats” could soon lose almost all four-legged friends

© McPHOTO/Anders / Imago Images

Over a million street cats live in Cyprus, but the number of animals is currently falling drastically. A variant of the corona virus that is deadly for cats is spreading on the Mediterranean island.

1.2 million people live on Cyprus – and at least as many cats. According to some estimates, there are even more cats than people on the Mediterranean island. But the number of four-legged friends is currently declining rapidly: A variant of the corona virus that is deadly for cats has been spreading on the island for about six months.

Cats should chase away snakes in Cyprus

The history of the cat population in Cyprus begins in a monastery, which – appropriate to the historical event – bears the name “St. Nicholas of the Cats”. As the Lonely Planet travel guide reports, the convent was founded on the edge of a vast peninsula on the southern tip of Cyprus in 327 AD by the country’s first Byzantine governor. Saint Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, encouraged the construction of the monastery. However, the entire island was suffering from a severe drought at the time and was being plagued by poisonous snakes. According to both the travel guide and the Reuters news agency, Helena is said to have imported several boatloads of cats from Egypt to Cyprus in the hope that the cats would chase the snakes.

On site

Cat exhibition Everything for the cat – a visit to the purring high society

21.05.2023

According to the portal “Cyprus Tourism” two different bells then rang in the monastery: one that called people to pray and another that announced their meals to the cats. After eating, the velvet paws were supposed to go hunting. The plan worked: the four-legged friends dammed the snakes -plague quickly – and have themselves multiplied rapidly over time.”Today, the many cats snoozing in the shade of the convent’s colonnades far outnumber the handful of lonely sisters now tending the place.” it in the article of “Lonely Planet“.

Contrary to previous assumptions, the oldest domestic cat to date does not come from Egypt, but from Cyprus. This was confirmed by a find from 2004. At that time, according to the “Welt” 9,500-year-old remains of a domestic cat are found in a grave near the Cypriot village of Parekklisia. There the animal was buried together with a human, probably its owner. This suggests that the people of Cyprus were the first people to wild cats were tamed around the world. Today it is mainly stray cats that populate the Mediterranean island – often also called “Island of Cats”. The animals can be found on every corner and sometimes live in large colonies: on the beach, in restaurants, in hotel complexes , in cemeteries.The strays are so numerous that they have become a problem for the country, just like snakes once did.

Stray cats need the help of humans

“We are dealing with a wild cat population that is approaching one million, that’s a rough estimate,” Dino Ayiomamitis, chairman of the cat conservation organization Cat PAWS Society, told the news agency Reuters two years ago. The volunteer feeds around 200 cats a day at various locations around Nicosica, the capital of Cyprus. The local paper “Cyprus Mail” estimates the number of wild cats is even higher at 1.5 million. The biggest problem is the sheer number of animals, as David Fender, operations manager and chairman of the Malcolm Cat Protection Society, told Reuters: “Many unneutered and not -Sterilized cats mean many kittens every year.” The high population density of the animals, coupled with a lack of prey and water, means that the four-legged friends are often dependent on human care.

In addition to animal-loving residents – almost every village has its own “Cat Lady” – a whole range of animal welfare organizations take care of the spreaders. Volunteers like Dino Ayiomamitis feed and capture the cats for spaying and neutering. Some are then placed in prison, while others are released back into the wild. The Malcolm Cat Protection Society animal shelter places about 100 animals a year, but the number of new arrivals far exceeds the number of departures, David Fender complained in an interview with Reuters.

The government of Cyprus supports the animal protection organizations with financial resources. In 2011, the country suspended aid because of the economic crisis. In the meantime, the state is again providing 75,000 euros per year for cat sterilization, according to “Cyprus Mail” it was even 100,000 euros last year. A drop in the ocean, say the animal rights activists. They are now facing another serious problem: a variant of the feline corona virus has been spreading to Cyprus for about six months. There is no danger to humans, but the virus causes feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) in cats, which Dinos Ayiomamitis estimates has killed at least 300,000 cats so far.

90 percent of street cats could die from the virus

According to a report by “t-online” The virus is transmitted via the smallest particles of faeces as well as saliva and nasal secretions. If cats have an intact immune system, the disease does not necessarily have to break out. However, many of the animals in Cyprus suffer from other infections, malnutrition or parasites, which then makes the immune system so bad when infected is weakened that it comes to an illness.The veterinarian Kostis Larkou spoke in an interview with the news agency AFP of a natural selection.The weakest cats will die and only the strongest among them are able to form antibodies and continue to live.That is however, a very small proportion – 90 percent of the animals could die.

body language in animals

does my cat like me These four behaviors show it

According to a report by the Austrian radio two treatment options: the anti-Covid drug molnupiravir, or the antiviral tablet GS-441524, which is chemically similar to remdesivir, which is used to treat Covid-19. The tablet is therefore approved for import into Cyprus, but the treatment costs 3,000 to 7,000 euros per cat – and is therefore hardly affordable. “I sincerely hope that there is no intention of allowing the disease to spread in order to reduce the population of stray cats,” animal rights activist Dino Ayiomamitis told AFP. Otherwise Cyprus could soon become the “island of the dead cats”.

Sources: AFP, “The standard“, “Cyprus Mail“, “Cyprus Tourism“, “The world“, “Lonely Planet“, Austrian radio, “t-online“