Feral Cat Predation Ecology and Wildlife Conservation

Feral cats (Felis catus) have become one of the most pervasive invasive predators worldwide, exerting profound pressure on native wildlife through direct predation, competition and disturbance. As generalist predators, they exploit a broad spectrum of vertebrate and invertebrate prey, with birds, small mammals and reptiles most frequently affected. Impacts are particularly severe on island ecosystems, where endemic species have evolved in the absence of mammalian predators and often lack effective defences. Habitat structure further mediates hunting success, with open areas favouring high kill rates and dense vegetation offering some refuge to prey. Beyond ecological factors, the complex interplay of sociocultural attitudes, legal frameworks and animal welfare considerations shapes management outcomes. Conservation strategies range from population removal and movement restrictions to community-based approaches such as trap-neuter-return (TNR) and owner education. A holistic understanding of predation ecology, human dimensions and policy obligations is essential to safeguard biodiversity while addressing ethical and practical challenges in cat management.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent large-scale dietary analyses have quantified the breadth of species impacted by free-ranging cats, identifying over two thousand prey taxa globally and highlighting that nearly a sixth of these are of conservation concern. Island faunas exhibit a threefold higher proportion of threatened species in cat diet records than continental systems, underscoring the urgency of tailored interventions. Further work has revealed that prey-species accumulation curves remain unsaturated, indicating that known impacts likely underestimate true biodiversity losses. These findings have driven calls for refined risk assessments and the development of spatially explicit management tools, incorporating both prey vulnerability and habitat features to optimise conservation outcomes.

Feral Cat Predation Ecology and Wildlife Conservation publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in feral cat predation ecology and wildlife conservation across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Generalist predator: A species that preys on a wide array of taxa across multiple habitats rather than specialising on a narrow range of prey.

Species accumulation curve: A graph showing the cumulative number of species recorded as sampling effort increases, used to estimate total biodiversity or prey diversity.

Trap-neuter-return (TNR): A management practice in which free-roaming cats are humanely captured, sterilised and then released back to their original location to limit population growth.

Invasive alien species: Non-native organisms introduced to an ecosystem where they establish, spread and cause ecological or economic harm.

References

1. A global synthesis and assessment of free-ranging domestic cat diet. Nature Communications (2023).
2. Feral Cats Are Better Killers in Open Habitats, Revealed by Animal-Borne Video. PLOS ONE (2015).
3. Challenges and opportunities in human dimensions behind cat–wildlife conflict. Conservation Biology (2024).
4. Categorisation of cats: Managing boundary felids in Aotearoa New Zealand and Britain. People and Nature (2023).
5. Our Wild Companions: Domestic cats in the Anthropocene. Trends in Ecology & Evolution (2020).