The northernmost town on Earth prohibits cats to protect birds
Longyearbyen, the world's northernmost settlement located in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, maintains a strict legal ban on pet cats to safeguard the region's fragile arctic bird populations.
Located halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, Longyearbyen enforces a unique environmental law that prohibits residents from keeping cats as pets. Authorities introduced this ban in the 1990s to protect vulnerable bird species, such as the little auk and the Arctic tern, which nest on the ground and have no natural feline predators.
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