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Australian Mammalogy Australian Mammalogy Society
Journal of the Australian Mammal Society
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Dietary overlap between sympatric dingoes and feral cats at a semiarid rangeland site in Western Australia

Tim S. Doherty
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

School of Natural Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia. Email: tim.doherty.0@gmail.com

Australian Mammalogy 37(2) 219-224 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM14038
Submitted: 4 December 2014  Accepted: 1 June 2015   Published: 10 July 2015

Abstract

The diet of sympatric dingoes and feral cats was studied in the semiarid southern rangelands of Western Australia. A total of 163 scats were collected over a period of 19 months. Rabbit remains were the most common food item in cat scats, followed by reptiles, small mammals and birds. Macropod remains were the most common food item in dingo scats, followed by rabbits and birds. Dingo scats did not contain small mammal remains, and infrequently contained arthropod and reptile remains. Cat and dingo scats contained remains from 11 and six mammal species, respectively. Of the small mammals, cat scats contained rodent remains more frequently than those of dasyurids. Dietary diversity of cats was higher than for dingoes and dietary overlap between the two species was relatively low.

Additional keywords: Canis lupus dingo, diet, Felis catus, prey.


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