Full description
From the referenced paper:Between December 1976 and February 1981, 246 cats were collected. Overall sex ratio was in favour of males 1:0.8, and coat colour was tabby (74%), orange (26%) and black (2%). The breeding season extended from October to March with the peak in November-December. Mean number of embryos was 4.7 per female and evidence of females producing two litters was found. Mortality in kittens increased as they grew older, with litters of kittens greater than 1.8 kg containing two or fewer animals. Most cats lived in herbfield or tussock grassland, with very few if any in feldmark. The total population was estimated at between 169 and 252 adult cats. Observations of an adult male showed that its home range covered 41 ha, but this appeared not to be maintained during winter. It's daytime activity varied greatly, much time being spent foraging for food.
Domestic cats Felis catus (L.) were feral on Macquarie Island by 1820, only 10 years after the island was discovered by sealers. Their presence was soon noted by early naturalists. Depredations by cats greatly reduced the numbers of burrow-nesting petrels and, together with the weka Gallirallus australis, cats were probably responsible for the extinction of the endemic parakeet Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae erythrotis and banded rail Rallus phillippensis before 1900. Feral cats are common on several other subantarctic islands and have been intensively studied; the only previous study on Macquarie Island was on diet. This study reports on other aspects of the biology of the feral cat on Macquarie Island.
Lineage
Progress Code: completed
Statement: Information on feral cats was gathered from December 1975 to March 1977 and from December 1978 to February 1981. Cats were shot, sexed, and weighed to the nearest 30g; females were autopsied for reproductive condition. Embryos were counted in utero and the age of each estimated according to weight in grams, on the basis of data from domestic cats. Limited mark-recapture studies using cage-traps were also made in the Green Gorge area during 1979. Cats were identified by coloured neck collars and/or numbered metal eartags.
Population size was estimated from monthly transect counts carried out day and night between January and October 1979. The day and night counts were done within 24 hours of one another, if weather permitted. The transect followed the coast from Green Gorge to Brothers Point (4.5 km) and then continued onto the plateau from Prion Lake to Green Gorge (5.5 km). At night a 100-W spotlight was used to sweep a path up to 350 m wide on the coast and 550 m wide on the plateau. The actual area covered was determined from a contour map of the island and by calculating distances to which a cat could be seen. These regions were chosen as they were regarded representative of habitats on Macquarie Island. During this year no cats were killed between Pyramid Peak and a line drawn between Bauer Bay and Sandy Bay, except on the west coast below the plateau edge. The west coast was 3km away and regarded sufficiently remote from the study areas as not to influence them.
Between 3 March and 16 September 1979, daytime observations from a convenient hill were made of an adult male orange cat at Green Gorge to map its home range and to observe its activities and those of other cats in the area. Twelve days of observation were made: six days in March, three in April, and one each for May, June and September. Home range was taken to be the area traversed by the cat for its daily activities. The area was then calculated by joining the outer data points. No correction factor was used and once-only excursions were excluded from the calculations.
Data time period: 1975-12-01 to 1981-02-28
text: westlimit=158.86386; southlimit=-54.692; eastlimit=158.94331; northlimit=-54.4977
Subjects
AMD |
AMD/AU |
CAT |
CEOS |
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES |
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > BIRDS |
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > MAMMALS |
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > SPECIES/POPULATION INTERACTIONS > EXOTIC SPECIES |
EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > SPECIES/POPULATION INTERACTIONS > SPECIES LIFE HISTORY |
EXOTIC SPECIES |
FERAL CAT |
FIELD SURVEYS |
GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR |
HERBFIELD |
MACQUARIE ISLAND |
OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN |
OCEAN > SOUTHERN OCEAN > MACQUARIE ISLAND |
TRAPS |
TUSSOCK GRASSLAND |
biota |
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Other Information
Download point for the data - papers - AAD Staff Only (VIEW RELATED INFORMATION > PUBLICATIONS)
uri :
https://data.aad.gov.au/eds/1837/download
Citation reference for this metadata record and dataset (VIEW RELATED INFORMATION)
uri :
http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=feral_cat_macca
Identifiers
- global : feral_cat_macca
