Our findings suggest that free-ranging cats cause substantially greater wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals. Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality. We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually. Here we conduct a systematic review and quantitatively estimate mortality caused by cats in the United States. The magnitude of mortality they cause in mainland areas remains speculative, with large-scale estimates based on non-systematic analyses and little consideration of scientific data. Free-ranging domestic cats have been introduced globally and have contributed to multiple wildlife extinctions on islands. Anthropogenic threats, such as collisions with man-made structures, vehicles, poisoning and predation by domestic pets, combine to kill billions of wildlife annually.
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