Category FAQs Search : Urban Ecology
Question: Habitat use by wandering pet cats (Felis catus) in a patchy urban environment
Answer: Introduction
Domestic cats (Felis catus) are one of the most common pets globally [Growth from Knowledge (GfK)) 2016)], and the exponential growth of the human population equates to more pet cats generally living in urban areas in high densities (Legge et al. 2020a). It is common for owners to let pet cats roam freely or wander outside at designated times in order to live what they perceive to be a behaviourally enriched life (MacDonald, Milfont, and Gavin 2015; McLeod, Hine, and Bengsen 2015; Hall et al. 2016a), despite there being little evidence that this is a requirement or even a benefit to these cats (Rochlitz 2005). High densities of free-roaming pet cats, fed by their owners, create the potential for hyper-predation on wildlife in urban areas, a situation in which usual predator-prey dynamics are decoupled and high rates of predation occur even at low prey densities (Woods, McDonald, and Harris 2003). There are many accounts of pet cats hunting native wildlife (e.g. Dickman and Newsome 2015), and creating further negative impacts through the transmission of viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic diseases, especially the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, to both wildlife and people (Day et al. 2012; Lepczyk, Lohr, and Duffy 2015; Legge et al. 2020b). Of further concern are the flow-on ecological impacts that can arise via competition between introduced and native predators (Bilney, Cooke, and White 2006) and prey stress responses to predator pressures (Fardell, Pavey, and Dickman 2020). As prey species navigate through ‘landscapes of fear’—areas of greater or lesser risk of predation (Laundre, Hernandez, and Ripple 2010) that may be created by the presence of cats (Mahlaba et al. 2017; Parsons et al. 2018) or their cues (faeces/urine/fur: Apfelbach et al. 2015), they may alter their feeding habits (Laundre, Hernandez, and Ripple 2010). Even if they escape predation, the effects of fear can negatively impact the reproductive success of prey species (Beckerman, Boots, and Gaston 2007; Bonnington, Gaston, and Evans 2013). Altered levels of stress or defensive behaviours can attract other predators or make prey more susceptible to them, thus increasing the risks to prey species still further (Preisser, Bolnick, and Benard 2005). An additional concern about wandering pet cats is that they may contribute to increased feral cat populations directly by not returning home, via breeding, or kitten abandonment (Jongman 2007). Furthermore, in areas where native felids are also present, there are risks of hybridization with pet cats and disease transmission from pet cats to native felids (Senn et al. 2019; Sieg et al. 2020).
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(Source: Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, 04 Aug 2021)
Source Link: https://academic.oup.com/jue/article/7/1/juab019/6324274?searchresult=1