Catastrophic cat predation: A call for predator profiling in wildlife protection programs

Moseby, Katherine E.; Peacock, David; Read, John

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.07.026

Cited by 111 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Our suggestion of specific (rogue) cats being disproportionately responsible for the deaths of many reintroduced hare‐wallabies is consistent with Moseby et al . () who, based on a literature review and experimental analysis of the fate of reintroduced Western Quoll ( Dasyurus geoffroyii ), concluded that mature male cats exceeding 3.5 kg were more likely to kill larger, more challenging prey and potentially have the greatest impact on translocation success. They and others (see Read et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct evidence implicates feral cat predation as the primary cause of failure of a mammal reintroduction programme

Hardman¹,

Moro²,

Calver³

2016

Eco Management Restoration

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Summary As evidence mounts that the feral Cat (Felis catus) is a significant threat to endemic Australian biodiversity and impedes reintroduction attempts, uncertainty remains about the impact a residual population of cats following control will have on a mammal reintroduction programme. Also, behavioural interactions between cats and their prey continue to be an area of interest. Within the framework of an ecosystem restoration project, we tested the hypotheses that successful reintroductions of some medium‐sized mammals are possible in locations where feral cats are controlled (but not eradicated) in the absence of European Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), and that hare‐wallabies that dispersed from their release area are more vulnerable to cat predation compared with those that remain at the release site. We used radiotelemetry to monitor the survivorship and dispersal of 16 Rufous Hare‐wallabies (Lagorchestes hirsutus spp.) and 18 Banded Hare‐wallabies (Lagostrophus fasciatus fasciatus) reintroduced to four sites within Shark Bay, Western Australia. Nearly all foxes were removed and feral cats were subject to ongoing control that kept their indices low relative to prerelease levels. All monitored hare‐wallabies were killed by cats within eight and 10 months following release. Significant predation by feral cats was not immediate: most kills occurred in clusters, with periods of several months where no mortalities occurred. Once a hare‐wallaby was killed, however, predation continued until each population was eliminated. Animals remaining near their release site survived longer than those that dispersed. The aetiology of predation events observed offers new insights into patterns of feral cat behaviour and mammal releases. We propose a hypothesis that these intense per capita predation events may reflect a targeted hunting behaviour in individual feral cats. Even where feral cats are controlled, the outcome from consistent predation events will result in reintroduction failures. Managers considering the reintroduction of medium‐sized mammals in the presence of feral cats should, irrespective of concurrent cat control, consider the low probability of success. We advocate alternative approaches to cat‐baiting alone for the recovery of cat‐vulnerable mammals such as hare‐wallabies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct evidence implicates feral cat predation as the primary cause of failure of a mammal reintroduction programme

Hardman¹,

Moro²,

Calver³

2016

Eco Management Restoration

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“…Additionally, previous single predator incursions have been recorded in fenced reserves and have not resulted in mass predation events, suggesting that many prey species can tolerate the low densities of predators required for these trials (see examples in Moseby et al. ).…”

Section: Kick‐starting Learning and Natural Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing natural selection to tackle the problem of prey naïveté

Moseby

Blumstein

Letnic

2015

Evolutionary Applications

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Many populations are threatened or endangered because of excessive predation resulting from individuals' inability to recognize, avoid, or escape alien predators. Such prey naïveté is often attributed to the absence of prior experience and co‐evolution between native prey and introduced predators. Many reintroduction programs focus on reducing predation rate by excluding introduced predators, a focus which ignores, and indeed exacerbates, the problem of prey naïveté. We argue for a new paradigm in reintroduction biology that expands the focus from predator control to kick‐starting learning and evolutionary processes between alien predators and reintroduced prey. By exposing reintroduced prey to carefully controlled levels of alien predators, in situ predation could enhance reintroduction success by facilitating acquisition of learned antipredator responses and through natural selection for appropriate antipredator traits. This in situ predator exposure should be viewed as a long‐term process but is likely to be the most efficient and expedient way to improve prey responses and assist in broadscale recovery of threatened species.

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“…An additional consideration is the complexity of relationships between predator and prey abundance. A reduction in cat numbers may not directly translate into reductions in predation rates, nor increases in prey populations (Spencer, Van Dyke, & Thompson, , ), especially if control does not remove “problem” individuals that have a disproportionate impact on prey populations (Moseby, Peacock, & Read, ; but see Swan, Redpath, Bearhop, & McDonald, ). Finally, in order for cat control to directly benefit threatened species, it also needs to be concentrated on high‐priority areas that contain—or could contain—populations of threatened species that are negatively affected by cats (Dickman, Denny, & Buckmaster, ).…”

Section: Is the Target Being Met?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation or politics? Australia's target to kill 2 million cats

Doherty

Driscoll

Nimmo

et al. 2019

CONSERVATION LETTERS

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The Australian Government's 5‐year Threatened Species Strategy contains four priority action areas and associated targets. Here, we argue that the well‐publicized target to cull 2 million feral cats has a weak scientific basis because: (1) reliable estimates of Australia's cat population size did not exist when the target was set; (2) it is extremely difficult to measure progress (numbers of cats killed) in an accurate, reliable way; and, most importantly, (3) the cull target is not explicitly linked to direct conservation outcomes (e.g., measured increases in threatened species populations). These limitations mean that the cull target fails to meet what would be considered best practice for pest management. The focus on killing cats runs the risk of distracting attention away from other threats to biodiversity, most prominent of which is widespread, ongoing habitat loss, which has been largely overlooked in the Threatened Species Strategy. The culling target is a highly visible symbol of a broader campaign around feral cat research and management in Australia, rather than a direct indicator of conservation action and success. We are concerned that progress toward the 2 million target could be misinterpreted as progress toward conserving threatened species, when the link between the two is not clear.

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Catastrophic cat predation: A call for predator profiling in wildlife protection programs

Cited by 111 publications

References 70 publications

Direct evidence implicates feral cat predation as the primary cause of failure of a mammal reintroduction programme

Direct evidence implicates feral cat predation as the primary cause of failure of a mammal reintroduction programme

Harnessing natural selection to tackle the problem of prey naïveté

Conservation or politics? Australia's target to kill 2 million cats

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