Elsevier

Mammalian Biology

Volume 77, Issue 3, May 2012, Pages 204-210
Mammalian Biology

Original Investigation
Free-ranging domestic cats reduce the effective protected area of a Polish national park

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2012.01.004Get rights and content

Abstract

Poland's Animal Protection Act, as of 2002, made it legal to shoot free-ranging cats and dogs. The act triggered substantial social debate with opponents arguing that this legislation was weakly supported by scientific evidence of the ecological impacts of free-ranging pets. Our main research goal was to examine the activity of free-ranging domestic cats within a Polish protected area by applying radio-telemetry methods to determine space use and degree of encroachment into the national park. We trapped and radio-tracked 19 animals from three sites (focal households) located in Ojcow National Park (ONP) in southern Poland from June 2003 to March 2006. Annual 100% MCP home range size varied from 0.02 km2 to 1.46 km2, and was significantly larger for males (mean ± SE = 0.79 ± 0.34 km2; median = 0.53 km2) than for females (mean ± SE = 0.13 ± 0.05 km2; median = 0.13 km2). The distance travelled by individual cats from focal sites did not significantly differ between males (mean ± SE = 232.00 ± 21.05 m; median = 191 m) and females (mean ± SE = 232.50 ± 12.47 m; median = 228 m), with maximum distances of 1.5 km for males and 1.1 km for females. All monitored cats were in close proximity to nature reserves and ranged into protected areas without any human control. Cats living in the households in the park and its surrounding buffer zone, roaming at 200 m and 1000 m radius distances from their households, occupied from 6% to 100% of the park area, respectively. Our results reveal that free-ranging domestic cats roam through and potentially impact the entire national park, thus reducing its effective protected area.

Introduction

The domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus), together with the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris), is one of the most popular companion animals. Even though humans and cats have long coexisted, these animals maintain the ability to live in both residential neighbourhoods and in the wild and are capable of subsisting without help from their owners (Fitzgerald and Turner, 2000). Although some owners believe that the additional feeding of cats may decrease their willingness to hunt and that only hungry animals will more effectively eradicate pests such as rodents (Fitzgerald and Turner, 2000), even fed cats actively hunt (Liberg, 1984, Churcher and Lawton, 1987, Crooks and Soulé, 1999, Fitzgerald and Turner, 2000, Lepczyk et al., 2003, Woods et al., 2003, Kays and DeWan, 2004, Baker et al., 2010, van Heezik et al., 2010). Moreover, although feeding cats may reduce their motivation to hunt and thus decrease their per capita impacts on wildlife (Kays and DeWan, 2004, Silva-Rodríguez and Sieving, 2011), such human subsidies also allow cat populations to reach inflated densities that may result in high cumulative impacts on prey populations (Schmidt et al., 2007, Tennent and Downs, 2008).

Cats are extremely abundant in the majority of the world's countries. As of 1996, there were 5 million cats in Poland and 33 million in Central Europe (Turner and Bateson, 2000). Other authors estimate, based primarily on survey research, that there are about 9 million cats in Britain (Woods et al., 2003) and more than 100 million in the USA (Levy and Crawford, 2004, Robertson, 2008). The density of cats varies considerably, from less than 3 to more than 20 individuals per ha, depending mainly on food availability (Baker et al., 2010). Likewise, home range size varies between 0.002 km2 to 0.07 km2 for females and 0.008 km2 to 0.08 km2 for males in urban areas (Say and Pontier, 2004, Tennent and Downs, 2008), between 0.002 km2 to 0.01 km2 for females and 0.008 km2 to 0.11 km2 for males in suburban areas (Kays and DeWan, 2004, Schmidt et al., 2007, Morgan et al., 2009), and between 0.03 km2 to 0.87 km2 for females and 0.04 km2 to 4.30 km2 for males in natural woodlands and agroforestry areas (Meek, 2003, Ferreira et al., 2011). The home range of female cats is determined by abundance, availability and distribution of food and shelter, as these factors affect female reproductive success; that of males primarily depends on density of females, the degree of synchrony of female receptivity to mating and the size and stability of female groups (Sandell, 1989, Liberg et al., 2000, Say and Pontier, 2004).

The ecological impact of free-ranging domestic cats depends on a variety of conditions, including prey distribution and abundance, level of human reliance, individual differences and the presence of other carnivores (Churcher and Lawton, 1987, May and Norton, 1996, Barratt, 1998, Fitzgerald and Turner, 2000, Lepczyk et al., 2003). In places where nature conservation is a priority, such as protected areas and national parks, predation by domestic animals, including both cats and dogs, may pose distinct threats. Risks include predation on prey species (Harper, 2007, Medina and Nogales, 2009, Dickman, 2009, Vanak and Gompper, 2010, Young et al., 2011), competition with native animals (Phillips et al., 2007, Watanabe et al., 2003, Glen and Dickman, 2005, Vanak and Gompper, 2010), transmission of infectious agents to wildlife (Butler et al., 2004, Suzán and Ceballos, 2005, Mendes-de-Almeida et al., 2007, Robertson, 2008) and hybridization with native carnivores, including domestic cats with European wildcats (Germain et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2008, Hertwig et al., 2009) and domestic dogs with gray wolves and dingoes (Savolainen et al., 2004, Elledge et al., 2008, Randi, 2008). A solution to this problem is therefore essential for effective conservation of wildlife (Calver et al., 2011, Silva-Rodríguez and Sieving, 2011).

In an effort to mitigate ecological impacts of outdoor cats by reducing the extent to which the roam away from households, Poland's Animal Protection Act of 2002 legalized lethal control of free-ranging cats, particularly those that might potentially threaten wildlife. Specifically, according to the regulation, “…it is legal to shoot free-ranging cats and dogs found at least 200 metres from the nearest household…” and “…the animal must look as abandoned (feral), malnourished and should pose a threat to wildlife…”. The Act, however, is somewhat ambiguous and can be misused as it does not define “free-ranging” or “feral” animals. Moreover, the regulations were based on weak and dated evidence of the ranging behaviour and potential impacts of cats (Ryszkowski et al., 1973, Pielowski, 1976, Romanowski, 1988) and dogs (Okarma et al. 1995) on local wildlife, primarily through anecdotal reports from foresters and game managers not supported by scientific research conducted in Poland. The growing number of cats and dogs in Poland is an increasing problem and has raised a series of prolonged public disputes.

To date, no reliable information exists on the ranging behaviour and thus possible impacts of domestic cats on wildlife and on protected ecosystems in Poland. In addition, in Poland specifically, no prior studies have evaluated activity and space use of domestic cats with radio-tracking techniques. Thus, our main research goal was to assess the space use of male and female free-ranging domestic cats within Ojcow National Park (ONP) in southern Poland. Consistent with prior studies (Yamane et al., 1994, Say and Pontier, 2004, Guttilla and Stapp, 2010), we expected that home ranges would vary with gender. We also examined the extent of movement of cats from household feeding stations, and estimated how this might reduce the effective protected area of the national park. If the legislation restricting free-ranging cats effectively reduced ranging behaviour and potential ecological impacts of outdoor cats, then we would expect cats in the national park would be largely restricted to households, particularly within the designated 200 m limit.

Section snippets

Study area

We conducted our study in Ojcow National Park (ONP), situated in the southern part of Krakowsko – Czestochowska Upland, Poland (50°12′N, 19°46′E). With 22 km2 of total core area and 2.5 km2 under strict reserve protection, it is the smallest national park in Poland. The core area is surrounded by a designated 68 km2 buffer zone, which is predominantly covered by fields, pastures and farm houses. Dominant habitats of the park consist of deciduous and mixed forests covering about 15 km2 of the study

Home ranges

We captured and fitted 19 cats with radio-collars, including four (two males, two females) in Maszyce, five (three males, two females) in Murownia and 10 (four males, six females) in Ojcow (Table 1). The cats were not neutered or spay. The duration of radio-tracking of each individual varied from 2 to 20 months. The number of fixes per individual ranged from 3 to 72 (mean ± SE = 23 ± 5 annually; Table 1).

In Ojcow, where we collected the most reliable data, the annual 100% MCP home range size varied

Discussion

Our results provide the first description of the space use of free-ranging domestic cats in Poland, and an unusual example of cat activity and encroachment in a national park. Home ranges of domestic cats occupying rural farmlands or forests tend to be considerably larger than those living in urban and suburban areas (Barrat, 1997, Kays and DeWan, 2004, van Heezik et al., 2010, Tschanz et al., 2011). The average annual home range sizes of monitored cats in forests of the ONP (males: 0.79 km2,

Conclusions

Many studies have suggested the need to diminish detrimental effects of housecats on natural ecosystems, with special emphasis on protected areas that house diverse assemblages of native prey species (Dickman, 2009, Morgan et al., 2009, Tennent et al., 2009, Dauphiné and Cooper, 2011). According to Poland's Animal Protection Act of 2002, at least some of the cats in our study could be shot, particularly if they appear feral and pose a threat to wildlife, as the mean distance they roamed from

Acknowledgements

The research was partially sponsored by Polish Hunting Association, the Jagiellonian University (DS/756, grants: CRBW/K-VI-42/2003 and EVK2-CT-2002-80009). The research on domestic cats was performed with the permission of the Local Bioethical Commission in Krakow (52/OP/2002) and the Director of Ojcow National Park (ONP) Mr. Rudolf Suchanek. We acknowledge with special thanks Dr. Józef Partyka (ONP) whose interest, enthusiasm and observations facilitated the study. We would like to thank

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