Feral cat

"Stray cat" redirects here. For the telenovela, see The Stray Cat. For other uses, see Stray Cats (disambiguation).
"Bush cat" redirects here. For the aircraft, see SkyReach BushCat.

A feral cat with a tipped ear, indicating it was neutered in a trap-neuter-return program

A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (Felis catus) that lives outdoors and avoids human contact; it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans.[1][2] Feral cats may breed over dozens of generations and become an aggressive local apex predator in urban, savannah and bushland environments. Some feral cats may become more comfortable with people who regularly feed them, but even with long-term attempts at socialization, they usually remain aloof and are most active after dusk. Of the 700 million cats in the world, an estimated 480 million are feral.[3][4][5]

Feral cats are devastating to wildlife, and conservation biologists consider them to be one of the worst invasive species on Earth.[6][7] Attempts to control feral cat populations are widespread but generally of greatest impact within purpose-fenced reserves.

Some animal rights groups advocate trap-neuter-return programs to prevent the feral cats from continuing to breed. Scientific evidence has demonstrated that TNR is not effective at controlling feral cat populations.[8][9]

  1. ^ Liberg, O.; Sandell, M.; Pontier, D.; Natoli, E. (2014). "Density, spatial organisation and reproductive tactics in the domestic cat and other felids". In Turner, D. C.; Bateson, P. (eds.). The domestic cat: the biology of its behaviour (Third ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 119–147. ISBN 9781107025028.
  2. ^ Hildreth, Aaron M.; Vantassel, Stephen M.; Hygnstrom, Scott E. "Feral Cats and Their Management" (PDF). University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension. University of Nebraska. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  3. ^ Ali Taghipour, Sahar Ghodsian, Mina Shajarizadeh, Mitra Sharbatkhori, Sasan Khazaei, Hamed Mirjalali. “Global prevalence of microsporidia infection in cats: a systematic review and meta-analysis of an emerging zoonotic pathogen.” Preventive Veterinary Medicine 188, 105278, 2021.
  4. ^ Ali Rostami, Mahdi Sepidarkish, Guangxu Ma, Tao Wang, Maryam Ebrahimi, Yadolah Fakhri, Hamed Mirjalali, Andreas Hofmann, Calum NL Macpherson, Peter J Hotez, Robin B Gasser. “Global prevalence of Toxocara infection in cats”. Advances in Parasitology 109, 615-639, 2020.
  5. ^ Xuying Zhang, Kokila Jamwal, Ottmar Distl. “ Tracking footprints of artificial and natural selection signatures in breeding and non-breeding cats.” Scientific reports 12 (1), 18061, 2022.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Longcore was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "IUCN/SSG Invasive Species Specialist Group". 100 Worst Invasive Species. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Coe 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hostetler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).