Stray cats in Auckland, New Zealand: Discovering geographic information for exploratory spatial analysis

Abstract

Stray cats are a common feature of urban landscapes and are associated with issues of animal welfare and negative environmental impacts. Management, planning and decision-making require readily accessible information on stray cats. However, much of the existing data is not immediately useful for a geographic information system (GIS) in terms of format, content and explicit location information. Spreadsheets we obtained from a single large shelter in the Auckland region. They contained records of stray cat pickups and admissions for an entire year (n = 8573) of which 56.4% (n = 4834) contained data that could be processed to derive relevant spatial information. The resulting data consisted of identified roads and areas of Auckland where the stray cats were found. Published census databases and shapefiles were matched with the data to build a GIS of stray cats. Global and local regression analysis was employed to discover spatial distribution characteristics including the identification of areas with relatively high and low concentrations of stray cats and to explore relationships between socioeconomic condition and stray cat density. Significant clustering is more evident in South Auckland than elsewhere in the region. Specific geographical information is valuable, not only for understanding population dynamics of stray cats, but also to allow spatial and temporal targeting of resources to minimise their impact and promote responsible ownership.

Distribution characteristics of unmanaged cat colonies over a 20 year period in Auckland, New Zealand

“…We can therefore conclude that cat colonies are currently a persistent feature of Auckland's landscape, intrinsically linked to the human population density and settlement areas. As for Aguilar and Farnworth (2012), some evidence points to linkages with the conditions represented by NZDI which may affect persistence of cat colonies. However, the weak statistical relationships found present a future challenge that may involve dissecting or disaggregating the elements that make up the index to discover more consistent relationships between individual NZDI indicators and the persistence of unmanaged cat colonies.…”

“…However, the weak statistical relationships found present a future challenge that may involve dissecting or disaggregating the elements that make up the index to discover more consistent relationships between individual NZDI indicators and the persistence of unmanaged cat colonies. It is important to note that the data used in Aguilar and Farnworth (2012) and this research come from different sources. It may be that the location and geographic influence of the two charitable organizations has some impact on where cats are reported and found.…”

“…Therefore, for the purposes of this research, we propose that an unmanaged colony should be considered as: "Three or more individual cats and/ or kittens reported to be permanently resident in a given location and with no discernible owner or caregiver". Therefore they can be considered as distinct from the stray cat population reported in an earlier paper (Aguilar & Farnworth, 2012).…”

“…Stray cats have been shown to be strongly associated with population density and social deprivation indices in Auckland New Zealand (Aguilar & Farnworth, 2012). This is yet to be established for cat colonies which may represent more persistent features of the urban landscape.…”

Body weight affects behavioural indication of thermal nociceptive threshold in adult domestic cats (Felis catus)

“…The lack of entire males in the study and inability to assess circulating levels of oestrogens in cycling females mean this finding should be considered with caution. Female cats in New Zealand have been shown to have two reproductive peaks per year (Aguilar and Farnworth, 2012), therefore, circulating levels of oestrogens may have varied substantially between individuals.…”