Feral cat killing chick and adult of endangered Newell's Shearwater

Kaua'i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project

A feral cat in Hono o Na Pali NAR killing first an endangered Newell's Shearwater chick and then the adult - in an area with ongoing introduced predator control. Warning : Graphic Content, this is not pleasant viewing. However it needs to be shown to illustrate the serious conservation impact of feral cats in the wilds of Kaua'i.

Watch: When the cat met the kiwi

Macquarie Is. eradication accomplished

Mission Accomplished - Landline - ABC

Tasmanian farmers and environmentalists team up to eradicate feral cat threat

From http://www.abc.net.au/

Farmers and environmentalists in northern Tasmania are teaming up to eradicate feral cats blamed for killing more than 20 billion native Australian animals a year, as well as threatening livestock ... continue reading

Feral cat attacks an endangered Hawaiian Petrel

Video provided by the Kauai Endangered Seabird Recovery Project shows a feral cat eating an endangered Hawaiian Petrel.

Cat eating endangered honeycreeper

The non-native feral cat in Hawaii is the most threatening predator to critically endangered palila. Palila did not evolve with these predators and are especially vulnerable to them. Evidence of their vulnerability was documented by researchers studying nest success of palila using continuous-loop video cameras to monitor the nests. Based on predation rates of the nests monitored, feral cats cause about 10% of all palila nests to fail every year.

Nest predation on endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper

Laut, M. E., Banko, P. C., & Gray, E. M. (2003). Nesting behavior of Palila, as assessed from video recordings. Pacific science, 57(4), 385-392.

We quantified nesting behavior of Palila (Loxioides bailleui), an endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper, by recording at nests during three breeding seasons using a black-and-white video camera connected to a videocassette recorder. A total of seven nests was observed. We measured the following factors for daylight hours: percentage of time the female was on the nest (attendance), length of attendance bouts by the female, length of nest recesses, and adult provisioning rates. Comparisons were made between three stages of the 40-day nesting cycle: incubation (day 1–day 16), early nestling stage (day 17–day 30 [i.e., nestlings ≤14 days old]), and late nestling stage (day 31–day 40 [i.e., nestlings > 14 days old]). Of seven nests observed, four fledged at least one nestling and three failed. One of these failed nests was filmed being depredated by a feral cat (Felis catus). Female nest attendance was near 82% during the incubation stage and decreased to 21% as nestlings aged. We did not detect a difference in attendance bout length between stages of the nesting cycle. Mean length of nest recesses increased from 4.5 min during the incubation stage to over 45 min during the late nestling stage. Mean number of nest recesses per hour ranged from 1.6 to 2.0. Food was delivered to nestlings by adults an average of 1.8 times per hour for the early nestling stage and 1.5 times per hour during the late nestling stage and did not change over time. Characterization of parental behavior by video had similarities to but also key differences from findings taken from blind observations. Results from this study will facilitate greater understanding of Palila reproductive strategies.

Feral cat hunting in backyard

Feral Cat Documentary. A beautiful feral cat starts hunting backyard wildlife - a dilemma for animal lovers! I decide to watch, film and try to get to know this wild creature and see if a win-win solution is possible.

Feral cats in Australia

Feral cats in Australia: A series of videos along an interview to Pr. C. Dickman

Identifying seabirds' predators with DNA and cams

Steffens, K. E., Sanders, M. D., Gleeson, D. M., Pullen, K. M., & Stowe, C. J. (2012). Identification of predators at black-fronted tern Chlidonias albostriatus nests, using mtDNA analysis and digital video recorders. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 36(1), 48. 

Predators at black-fronted tern (Chlidonias albostriatus) nests on the Wairau braided riverbed in Marlborough, New Zealand, were identified using (1) mtDNA analysis of 438 swabs from shell remains, nest contents, and carcass remains, and (2) digital video surveillance of 85 nests. DNA analysis suggested harriers (Circus approximans) were the main predator of tern eggs (171 of 192 shell samples containing predator DNA). Cats (Felis catus) and stoats (Mustela erminea) were the probable predators of the majority of adult terns killed (9 and 8 respectively, of swabs from 19 carcasses). Video results were broadly, though not entirely, consistent with the DNA results, and showed that harriers were the main predator of eggs (9 of 19 videoed predation events), followed by Southern black-backed gulls (Larus dominicanus dominicanus; 3/19); hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus occidentalis; 2/19), ship rats (Rattus rattus; 2/19), pied oystercatchers (Haematopus finschi; 2/19) and stoats (1/19). DNA was analysed from nine of the 19 videoed nests but the only predator DNA obtained was from harriers (four nests). Sixty-four percent of depredated nests (683/1063) contained no eggshell remains at the next monitoring visit after predation. DNA analysis of nest material from 71 of these empty nests yielded only one predator result; video footage was therefore essential to identify the cause of 12 empty nests at 19 videoed nest predations. Terns removed the depredated egg remains from eight nests; blackbacked gulls consumed eggs at three nests; and a stoat carried the eggs away from one nest. Hedgehog DNA was not found on shell remains from nests with videoed hedgehog predations. Analysing DNA from eggshell and carcass remains is a valuable new tool in wildlife research and management because it can identify predator species and indicate their relative importance. However, our results show that predator species are not equally detectable using this technique, leading to biases in the DNA results. This ‘detectability bias’ needs to be further quantified, and recognised when interpreting DNA results.

Dogs as scavengers in India

http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-5-issue-ii/

A lot of people as well as animal welfare activists feed street dogs in various parts of our country. Whereas, animal welfare is good, one ought to understand the consequences of each of our actions.

Apart from the food given by people, due to our wasteful nature and the improper garbage disposal, a lot of street dogs find food. They outcompete our traditional scavengers like vultures and jackals. In the earlier days any dead animal used to be cleaned up by vultures, jackals and hyenas. Today with vultures impacted by diclofenac, during the day time it is the dogs who clean up the carcass. In the night, large wildboars get the first share, then the wildboar piglets followed by feral dogs and only after that the jackals get any chance to have food.

To stop the feral dog population from growing:

1) don't waste food

2) don't dump garbage

3) don't feed street dogs/feral dogs