Introduction
The exhaustive search for a humane way to control and reduce free-roaming cat populations (also referred to as “feral,” interchangeably) that is effective in the long term, economically viable, ethically appealing and ecologically sound, has led many animal welfare proponents, governments and NGOs around the world to implement the Trap-Neuter-Release method (TNR). This paper seeks to survey findings from TNR focused studies performed in Europe and the United States in order to not only assess the method’s overall success in achieving the goal of population control and reduction, but to gain insight into the impact that TNR has on the behavioral characteristics of feral cats on the individual and colony-wide scale. By evaluating …show more content…
This means that strategies to control their population should ideally target areas where feral cats shelter, as opposed to forage, as they are likely to encounter the largest population densities, and thus be more affective. Additionally, researchers found that feral cats strongly tended towards nocturnal behavior in terms of navigating their surroundings and foraging, as opposed to domestic cats who were more affected by their owners’ schedules and tended towards higher activity levels in the morning than in the evening. For a population control strategy to be affective, it follows that efforts should be concentrated in the evening and night, as that is when the highest number of feral cats will be moving throughout their home range (Horn et al., …show more content…
Feeding behavior, mating behavior, interactions with domestic cats, and interactions with other species were collected throughout the study period. Researchers concluded that feeding behavior was unaggressive due to lack of competition and relative abundance around the dock area. Cats also fed on natural prey such as pigeons and rodents. The urban environment was noted to be extremely conducive to the catching of prey given the availability of structures in place to aid in the cats’ ambush style predation. In terms of mating, little competition appeared to exist due to the low population density of the free-roaming cats. No contacts between feral cats and domestic cats where observed in this study. Lastly, contact between other animals, specifically stray dogs and wild foxes, were hypothesized by the researchers, but not observed (Page et al.,
The exhaustive search for a humane way to control and reduce free-roaming cat populations (also referred to as “feral,” interchangeably) that is effective in the long term, economically viable, ethically appealing and ecologically sound, has led many animal welfare proponents, governments and NGOs around the world to implement the Trap-Neuter-Release method (TNR). This paper seeks to survey findings from TNR focused studies performed in Europe and the United States in order to not only assess the method’s overall success in achieving the goal of population control and reduction, but to gain insight into the impact that TNR has on the behavioral characteristics of feral cats on the individual and colony-wide scale. By evaluating …show more content…
This means that strategies to control their population should ideally target areas where feral cats shelter, as opposed to forage, as they are likely to encounter the largest population densities, and thus be more affective. Additionally, researchers found that feral cats strongly tended towards nocturnal behavior in terms of navigating their surroundings and foraging, as opposed to domestic cats who were more affected by their owners’ schedules and tended towards higher activity levels in the morning than in the evening. For a population control strategy to be affective, it follows that efforts should be concentrated in the evening and night, as that is when the highest number of feral cats will be moving throughout their home range (Horn et al., …show more content…
Feeding behavior, mating behavior, interactions with domestic cats, and interactions with other species were collected throughout the study period. Researchers concluded that feeding behavior was unaggressive due to lack of competition and relative abundance around the dock area. Cats also fed on natural prey such as pigeons and rodents. The urban environment was noted to be extremely conducive to the catching of prey given the availability of structures in place to aid in the cats’ ambush style predation. In terms of mating, little competition appeared to exist due to the low population density of the free-roaming cats. No contacts between feral cats and domestic cats where observed in this study. Lastly, contact between other animals, specifically stray dogs and wild foxes, were hypothesized by the researchers, but not observed (Page et al.,