Domestic Cats and DDT
This story goes along the timeline of DDT exposure during the WW2 era, and the effects that led to the death of domestic cats.
by Sidney
Domestic Cats and DDT
A healthy cat population looks like this: high population numbers and a thriving environment.
The domestic cats lived in rural environments, often in the agricultural countryside. They typically roamed through crop fields looking for prey, and also in or around the barnyards.
For survival, these cats hunted down prey for food. This led to them being at the top of the food chain. Their prey included geckos, which preyed on caterpillars and cockroaches.
DDT was introduced into the environment by being sprayed on houses to combat the mosquito problem, which spread malaria.
The insects in the contaminated roofs, cockroaches and caterpillars, were being eaten by geckos. These geckos were prey to the cats, so DDT was moved up the food chain through biomagnification.
The consequences of this highly concentrated exposure to DDT led to the mortality of the domestic cat population.
The chemical hazards of DDT were studied by scientists, which led them to ban the use of DDT in agriculture.
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