Seasonal Movement Patterns of Urban Domestic Cats Living on the Edge in an African City

Domestic cats ( ) are amongst the most destructive invasive vertebrates globally, depredating billions of native animals annually. The size and seasonal variation of their geographical "footprint" is key to understanding their effects on wildlife, particularly if they live near conservatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Animals (Basel) 2023-03, Vol.13 (6), p.1013
Main Authors: Simmons, Robert E, Seymour, Colleen L, George, Sharon T, Peters, Koebraa, Morling, Frances, O'Riain, M Justin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
95% kernel
Biodiversity
Biological diversity conservation
Buffers
Carnivores
Cats
Conservation areas
Domestic animals
free-roaming cats
GPS tracking
Habitats
Home range
Indigenous animals
National parks
National parks and reserves
Open spaces
Predation
Prey
protected area buffers
Protected areas
Protection and preservation
Questionnaires
Reptiles & amphibians
season
Seasonal variations
Summer
Vertebrates
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife habitats
Winter
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Summary:Domestic cats ( ) are amongst the most destructive invasive vertebrates globally, depredating billions of native animals annually. The size and seasonal variation of their geographical "footprint" is key to understanding their effects on wildlife, particularly if they live near conservation areas. Here we report the first GPS-tracking studies of free-roaming owned cats in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. A total of 23 cats was tracked (14 cats in summer, 9 in winter) using miniature (22 g) GPS locators in 2010-2011. In summer, all cats living on the urban-edge (UE: = 7) made extensive use of protected areas, while only one of seven urban (U) cats (>150 m from the edge) did so. In winter two of four UE and two of five U cats entered protected areas. Home ranges (95% kernel density estimates) were significantly larger in summer (3.00 ± 1.23 ha) than winter (0.87 ± 0.25 ha) and cats ventured further from their homes in summer (maximum 849 m) than in winter (max 298 m). The predation risk posed by caracal ( ) may limit the time cats spend in protected areas, but our results suggest that cat buffers around conservation areas should be at least ~600 m wide to reduce impacts to native fauna.
ISSN:2076-2615
2076-2615
DOI:10.3390/ani13061013