Activity of free-roaming domestic cats in an urban reserve and public perception of pet-related threats to wildlife in New Zealand

Woolley, Christopher; Hartley, Stephen

doi:10.1007/s11252-019-00886-2

Cited by 17 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…These results are consistent with our occupancy results, as both building density and the 478 preserve area around a monitoring point are associated with preserve boundaries. In an 479 urban reserve in New Zealand, Woolley and Hartley (2019) found that detection rates at 480…”

Section: Discussion 419mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Vanek

Rutter

Preuss

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Domestic cats (Felis catus) are one of the world’s most damaging invasive species. Free-ranging cats kill billions of wild animals every year, spread parasites and diseases to both wildlife and humans, and are responsible for the extinction or extirpation of at least 63 species. While the ecology and conservation implications of free-ranging cats have well studied in some locations, relatively little is known about cats inhabiting urban nature preserves in the United States. To address this knowledge gap, we used camera traps to study the occupancy and activity patterns of free-ranging cats in 55 suburban nature preserves in the Chicago, IL metropolitan area. From 2010–2018 (4,440 trap days), we recorded 355 photos of free-ranging cats across 26 preserves (ψnaïve = 0.45) and 41 randomly distributed monitoring points (ψnaïve = 0.18). Cats were detected every year, but rarely at the same point or preserve, and cats were largely crepuscular/diurnal. Using single-season occupancy models and a “stacked” design, we found that cat occupancy increased with building density and detectability was highest near the urban/preserve boundary. Based on our top-ranked model, predicted occupancy within individual preserves ranged from 0.09 to 0.28 (ψmean = 0.11) and was poorly correlated with preserve size or shape. Overall, our results suggest that free-ranging cats are rare within suburban preserves in our study area, and that these cats are most likely owned or heavily subsidized by people (which pose different risks and management challenges than truly feral cats). We discuss the conservation and management implications for urban natural areas.HighlightsWe surveyed for domestic cats across 55 suburban preserves from 2010-2018.We modeled occupancy and detectability as a function of urban covariates.Cat occupancy was low overall and best predicted by building density.The risk to native species is highest near preserve boundaries bordered by built environments.

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Section: Discussion 419mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Vanek

Rutter

Preuss

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…These results are consistent with our occupancy results, as both building density and the preserve area around a monitoring point are associated with preserve boundaries. In an urban reserve in New Zealand, Woolley and Hartley (2019) found that detection rates at cameras near the preserve edge were 6 times greater than at cameras just 100 m into the preserve. Similarly, in a suburban preserve in New York, Kays and DeWan (2004) found that free-ranging cats were rarely detected at scent stations > 50 m from the neighborhood/preserve edge.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…living independent of humans) but were more likely pet cats with access to the outdoors. This has important implications for the management of freeranging cats in Lake County, as the control of free-ranging cats is a contentious issue (Ash and Adams 2003, Longcore et al 2009, Loyd and Miller 2010a, b, McDonald et al 2015, Woolley and Hartley 2019.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Domestic cats (Felis catus) are one of the world's most damaging invasive species. Freeranging cats kill billions of wild animals every year, spread parasites and diseases to both wildlife and humans, and are responsible for the extinction or extirpation of at least 63 species. While the ecology and conservation implications of free-ranging cats have well studied in some locations, relatively little is known about cats inhabiting urban nature preserves in the United States. To address this knowledge gap, we used camera traps to study the occupancy and activity patterns of free-ranging cats in 55 suburban nature preserves in the Chicago, IL metropolitan area. From 2010-2018 (4,440 trap days), we recorded 355 photos of free-ranging cats across 26 preserves ( naïve = 0.45) and 41 randomly distributed monitoring points ( naïve = 0.18). Cats were detected every year, but rarely at the same point or preserve, and cats were largely crepuscular/diurnal. Using single-season occupancy models and a "stacked" design, we found that cat occupancy increased with .

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“…To survive and reproduce in such highly modified landscapes (Van Heezik & Seddon, 2018), animals must learn to exploit novel food sources (Møller et al, 2012;Sol, Lapiedra, & González-lagos, 2013), cope with novel predators (Bílá, Beránková, Veselý, Bugnyar, & Schwab, 2017;Woolley & Hartley, 2019), and adjust communication strategies to cope with elevated noise levels (Kight & Swaddle, 2015). However, species that can navigate the perils of urban living, may thrive under such conditions (Lombardi, Comer, Scognamillo, & Conway, 2017;Møller et al, 2012) by exploiting the high abundance of resources contained within anthropogenic landscapes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sanctuary is located around 2 km from the city centre and surrounded by neighbouring reserves and suburban landscapes (Charles & Linklater, 2014;Recio et al, 2017). The location of Zealandia and success of species reintroductions results in a high spill over of birds from the sanctuary into surrounding areas, where they must adapt to numerous threats (Brockie & Duncna, 2012;Miskelly, 2018;Sriram et al, 2018;Woolley & Hartley, 2019). One such species is the kākā (Nestor meridionalis) (Linklater et al, 2018;Miskelly, 2018;Recio et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social learning and networks in Nestor parrots

Donoghue¹

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<p>Social learning and network analyses are theorised to be of great utility in the context of behavioural conservation. For example, harnessing a species’ capacity for social learning may allow researchers to seed useful information into populations, while network analyses could provide a useful tool to monitor community stability, and predict pathways of pathogen transfer. Thus, an understanding of how individuals learn and the nature of the social networks within a population could enable the development of new behavioural based conservation interventions for species facing rapid environmental change, such as human-induced habitat modification. Parrots, the most threatened avian order worldwide, are notably underrepresented in the social learning and social network literature. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap by exploring social learning and networks using two endangered species of parrot; kākā (Nestor meridionalis) and kea (Nestor notabilis). The first study explores social learning of tool use in captive kea, using a trained kea demonstrator. The results from this experiment indicate that both social learning and play behaviour facilitated the uptake of tool use, and suggests that kea are highly sensitive to social information even when presented with complex tasks. The second study assesses whether wild kākā can socially learn novel string-pulling and food aversion behaviours from video playbacks of conspecific demonstrators. Although there was no evidence to indicate that kākā learn socially, these individuals also show no notable reaction to video playback of a familiar predator. Therefore, these results are likely due to difficulties in interpreting information on the screens, and not necessarily a reflection of their ability to perceive social information. In the final study, social network analysis (SNA) was performed to map social connectivity within wellington’s urban kākā population. SNA indicates that kākā form non-random social bonds, selectively associating with some individuals more than others, and also show high levels of dissimilarity in community composition at different feeding sites. Taken together, these results provide rare empirical evidence of social learning in a parrot species and suggest that even complicated seeded behaviours can quickly spread to other individuals. These findings may also be indicative of the difficulties in conducting video playback experiments in wild conditions, which is an area in need of future research. Overall, these findings contribute to the very limited body of research on social learning and networks in parrots, and provide information of potential value in the management of these species.</p>

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Activity of free-roaming domestic cats in an urban reserve and public perception of pet-related threats to wildlife in New Zealand

Cited by 17 publications

References 48 publications

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Anthropogenic factors influence the occupancy of an invasive carnivore in a suburban preserve system

Social learning and networks in Nestor parrots

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