Feral and stray domestic cats occupy many different habitats. They can resist dehydration for months by relying exclusively on the tissue water of their prey allowing them to colonize remote deserts and other inhospitable places. They thrive and reproduce in humid equatorial rainforests and windswept subantarctic islands. In many areas of the world feral cats have driven some species of birds and mammals to extinction and others to the edge, becoming a huge conservation concern. With the control of feral and stray cats now a top conservation priority, biologists are intensifying efforts to understand cat behaviour, reproductive biology, use of space, intraspecies interaction, dietary requirements, prey preferences, and vulnerability to different management strategies.

This book provides the most comprehensive review yet published on the behavior, ecology and management of free-ranging domestic cats, whether they be owned, stray, or feral. It reviews management methods and their progress, and questions several widely accepted views of free-ranging cats, notably that they live within dominance hierarchies and are highly social.

Insightful and objective, this book includes:

• a functional approach, emphasizing sensory biology, reproductive physiology, nutrition, and space
  partitioning;
• clear treatment of how free-ranging cats should be managed;
• extensive critical interpretation of the world's existing literature;
• results of studies of cats in laboratories under controlled conditions, with data that can also be
  applied to pet cats.

Free-ranging Cats: Behavior, Ecology, Management is valuable to ecologists, conservation scientists, animal behaviorists, wildlife nutritionists, wildlife biologists, research and wildlife veterinarians, clinical veterinarians, mammalogists, and park and game reserve planners and administrators.

About the Author

Dr Stephen Spotte is a marine scientist and an adjunt scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory (Sarasota, Florida). He is an author or co-author of more than 80 scientific papers and has written 18 books.

Reviews

"In this context, a new book published by Wiley, Free-ranging Cats: Behavior, Ecology, Management (by Stephen Spotte), provides a comprehensive and objective insight on the key topics related to the management of feral cats, addressing some fundamental issues for a correct analysis of the problem, including a review of the available information on the species' behavioral, biological and ecological features." (Nature Conservation, 15 December 2014)

"The breadth and depth of the book, along with its well thought out points, make it a must have for anyone working on issues related to free-ranging cats. It is a well written and easy to follow book that can easily be referenced for specific topics." (The Journal of Wildlife Management, 2015)

Book Information
ISBN 9781118884010
Author Stephen Spotte
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 862g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 198mm * 21mm