A triple threat: high population density, high foraging intensity and flexible habitat preferences explain high impact of feral cats on prey.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Hamer RP
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7892407 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
A triple threat: high population density, high foraging intensity and flexible habitat preferences explain high impact of feral cats on prey.
Hamer Rowena P RP Gardiner Riana Z RZ Proft Kirstin M KM Johnson Christopher N CN Jones Menna E ME
Proceedings. Biological sciences 20210106 1942
Alien mammalian carnivores have contributed disproportionately to global loss of biodiversity. In Australia, predation by the feral cat and red fox is one of the most significant causes of the decline of native vertebrates. To discover why cats have greater impacts on prey than native predators, we compared the ecology of the feral cat to a marsupial counterpart, the spotted-tailed quoll. Individual prey are 20-200 times more likely to encounter feral cats, because of the combined effects of cat ...[more]
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