Our latest research reveals that the ecological "pawprint" of domestic dogs is much greater than previously realised.
Using the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, we counted how many species are negatively affected by dogs, assessed the prevalence of different types of impacts, and identified regions with the greatest number of affected species.
Dogs are third-most-damaging mammal
We found that dogs are implicated in the extinction of at least 11 species, including the Hawaiian Rail and the Tonga Ground Skink. Dogs are also a known or potential threat to 188 threatened species worldwide: 96 mammal, 78 bird, 22 reptile and three amphibian species. This includes 30, two of which are classed as "possibly extinct".
These numbers place dogs in the number three spot after cats and rodents as the world's most damaging invasive mammalian predators.
(Score: 3, Touché) by butthurt on Thursday May 04 2017, @05:10AM
> It's no surprise that they are often considered dirty or even food in some cultures.
In which cultures are the concepts of food and dirtiness similar?