“Cats kill over a billion birds each year in the US but many people are unwilling to accept the magnitude of the problem.”

Pete Marra is committed to delivering a message that many cat lovers are not prepared to hear: keep your pets in doors. Few people know that cats are an invasive species in North America and that allowing them outside is harmful to the ecosystem, especially to wildlife. Migratory birds are easy prey to curious cats and, with millions of owned and unowned cats roaming the outdoors, billions of birds are at risk. Marra is the Head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and his findings on cat predation’s affect on bird populations are sure to cause controversy. Will cat owners listen?

Pete Marra is the director of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.