Japan’s Cat Island Won’t Survive Much Longer

This is an island with no accommodation and no shops. Coffee ShopNot even any vending machine. It is located 30 minutes by ferry off the coast of Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture, and is also a difficult place to get to. However, despite this, Qingdao Cat Island (commonly known as Cat Island) has become a popular tourist attraction over the years. The reason, of course, is the large number of cats that live here. But sadly, this feline paradise will not be a tourist destination for much longer. Earlier this month, a tweet on X Qingdao Cat The article titled “The Future of Cat Island” reveals the seriousness of the situation.

The future of Cat Island

“The cat population is decreasing,” read“The cats are getting older. Currently all cats on the island are over 7 years old. No kittens have been born since sterilization in October 2018. We think the cats will cross the rainbow bridge in a few years. There are currently five residents on the island. As tourists stop coming to the island, there will be rumors of reducing or canceling the scheduled ferry service. When the ‘cat mother’ gets old and leaves, Cat Island will end. It’s a sad story.”

“Cat Mom” ​​refers to a 73-year-old resident of the island who provides the most care for the cats, including storing food for them. This job has become increasingly important as the number of tourists has been decreasing recently and the cats are getting less and less food. Although they receive food donations from all over Japan and eat smaller animals on the island, it is believed that without the support of Cat Mom, many of the cats would starve.

A brief history of Qingdao

Qingdao was formerly a remote fishing village that prospered due to the abundance of sardines in the surrounding seas. It was a great fishing village for the fishermen, but they had a rat problem, as rats would chew through their nets. The solution was to adopt stray cats they encountered in various ports. They brought the cats back to their boats and often kept them in Qingdao. This helped to eliminate the rats and later helped boost tourism. However, eventually the sardine population in the area began to dwindle and residents began to leave.

After World War II, the island had about 900 cats, but in 2017 it dropped to 13. At the same time, the number of cats was only a few hundred. Elderly residents thought there were too many cats and not enough people to take care of them. Therefore, the Qingdao Cat Protection Association recommended that every cat on the island be sterilized to gradually reduce the number of cats. The sterilization surgery was completed in 2018.

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