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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Contents Vol 52(4)

Cat among the birds and trees: feral cat movements respond to variation in spatiotemporal productivity in a large island ecosystem

Cyril R. E. Scomparin https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2973-8397 A * , Matthew D. Pauza B and Menna E. Jones A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas 7005, Australia.

B Invasive Species Branch, Biosecurity Tasmania, Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, New Town, Tas 7008, Australia.

* Correspondence to: cyril.scomparin@utas.edu.au

Handling Editor: Jordan Hampton

Wildlife Research 52, WR24179 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR24179
Submitted: 27 October 2024  Accepted: 15 March 2025  Published: 8 April 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Feral cats (Felis catus) are a highly adaptable invasive species, widespread across mainlands and islands in Australia and globally. Managing feral cats to reduce their impact on native wildlife is a priority for conservation organisations, land managers, and policymakers.

Aims

This study aimed to examine how spatial and temporal heterogeneity in productivity influences the movement behaviour, habitat selection, and home range size of feral cats on lunawanna-alonnah/Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia. Combining movement and landscape information provides a finer-scale understanding of habitat use and requirements, which is valuable for managing of invasive species.

Methods

We deployed GPS collars on 17 feral cats, across three sites on lunawanna-alonnah/Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia. Two of the sites contained seabird colonies, whereas the third was located in wet eucalypt forests. The collars recorded data for periods ranging from 40 to 340 days. We describe and compare home range utilisations by using biased random-bridge kernels, classify movement paths by using hidden Markov models, and apply the Manly selection ratio approach to investigate habitat selection.

Key results

Cat home ranges and movements were smallest in the high-productivity situation of seasonally breeding seabird colonies and largest in the lower-productivity wet forest. Cats in wet forests spent more time travelling and made greater use of anthropogenic features, such as tracks and roads. Cats collared in the seabird colony avoided roads and mostly restricted their movements to the colony, with the exception of three males that made extensive extra-territorial movements after the seabirds departed the colony.

Conclusions

The sudden change in prey resources following seabird migration could present a threat to native wildlife if cats prey-switch, but offer an opportunity for lethal control because cats will be hungry, more mobile, and therefore more likely to encounter control activities.

Implications

Our results confirmed the importance of landscape productivity in shaping the behaviour of feral cats and provided information that can inform control programs in similar landscapes.

Keywords: animal movement, conservation, feral cat, geographical range, habitat use, invasive species, radio telemetry, seabird.

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