Diet of free‐ranging cats and dogs in a suburban and rural environment, south‐eastern Brazil

Abstract

In spite of the worldwide occurrence of domestic cats and dogs, and their close relationship with humans, the number of published papers on free-ranging cats Felis catus and dogs Canis familiaris, is small. The diet of both species was estimated in a suburban and rural environment in July 2002 and January 2003. Visual observations and scat collection of both species were accomplished along a 10 km transect line in the Campus 'Luiz de Queiroz', University of Sa˜o Paulo, Piracicaba, south-eastern Brazil. The diet of both species was determined by analysis of sterilized, washed, dried and sorted scats. Estimated abundances of free-ranging cats and dogs in the sampled area were 81 ( AE 4.32) and 42 ( AE 2.96), respectively. Cats and dogs were more abundant in the suburban than in the rural environment (t= 3.78, Po0.001, N = 55; t= 8.38, Po0.001, N = 55, respectively) and cats were more abundant than dogs in the suburban environment (t= 6.76, Po0.001, N = 55), even though there was no significant difference between the abundance of both species in the rural environment (t = 0.82, P= 0.46, N= 55). Invertebrates were the most commonly consumed item by both species, followed by mammals (cats: 63.24 and 20.51%; dogs: 57.05 and 25.15%, respectively). Niche breadth was 0.4892 for cats and 0.4463 for dogs. Niche overlap was almost complete (0.97108). The consumption of mammals was estimated to be between 16.76 and 25.42 kg individual À1 year À1 for dogs and between 2.01 and 2.9 kg individual À1 year À1 for cats. These data might be useful to establish a management program to minimize the predation pressure of free-ranging cats and dogs on wildlife.

Using Natural Marks to Estimate Free-Ranging Dog Canis Familiaris Abundance in a Mark-Resight Framework in Suburban Mumbai, India

“…Free-ranging dogs often come into contact with wildlife and interact negatively [13,14], sometimes even outcompeting native species [15], as well as posing a high risk of disease spillover to native carnivores, especially to wild canids and felids [5]. Studies from around the globe highlight the influence of free-ranging dogs on native fauna [3,5,[16][17][18].…”

“…Dogs, as one of the most widely distributed carnivores, also interact with wildlife in various environments across rural-urban gradients. They often adopt the role of predators [2,3], prey [4][5][6], competitors [7] and reservoirs or transmitters of disease [8,9]. Additionally, they may also take up the role of "conservation dogs" (sensu Reed et al [10]), and are employed in wildlife research and management [11].…”

Changes over 26 Years in the Avifauna of the Bogotá Region, Colombia: Has Climate Change Become Important?

“…Contrary to the high number of feral dogs ranging in the wetlands, cats were rarely seen in the circle sites. Campos et al (2007) compared the distribution and analyzed the diet of feral cats and dogs in Brazil and found that both were more abundant in suburban than in rural areas and their diet consisted mostly of invertebrates, followed by mammals and birds. We have found no other published studies of cat predation on birds in Latin America, but such studies are badly needed.…”

Inventory of medium and large-sized mammals from Serra do Brigadeiro and Rio Preto State Parks, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil

“…thous on PESB. The domestic dog has a negative impact on mammals, being a potential predator, competitor and is also source of several diseases (Butler and du Toit 2002;Butler et al 2004;Curi et al 2006;Galetti and Sazima 2006;Campos et al 2007). In one occasion (August 2006) two dogs killed an adult male capuchin monkey (Sapajus nigritus) on PESB (Oliveira et al 2008), demonstrating the need of urgent management actions.…”