Seasonal habitat selection and ranging of domestic cats (Felis catus) in rural and urban environments

Abstract Domestic cats (Felis catus) thrive at high densities alongside humans in urban and rural environments and are responsible for excessive wildlife predation worldwide. As urbanisation and farmland expands, and domestic cats inevitably reach previously unoccupied habitats, management plans will rely on understanding cat ranging behaviours. Cat movements and habitat selection may differ depending on their surroundings, and consequently, we sought to assess how male and female cat behaviours varied during different seasons in urban, suburban, and rural environments. In cities and farmland in the UK, the location of 56 owned cats (26 F:30 M) was recorded every 5 min for a total of 5237 h using GPS collars (454 ± 25 fixes over c. 4 days per individual). Urban and rural cats exhibited similar patterns of home ranges, maximum distances travelled from their owner’s house, and habitat selection, where they selected for built-up areas with good cover and avoided open spaces. Cats spent an average of 75% of their time outside their owners’ house or garden and therefore had great potential to encounter wild prey. Males in rural areas were almost twice as active than other males but all exhibited crepuscular activity patterns compared to cathemeral or diurnal females. In summer, cats had smaller home ranges and were more nocturnal, poentially concentrating their impacts around core areas during hotter months. Similarities in cat ranging behaviours across the urban–rural gradient suggest management plans can be equally applied in areas alongside cities as well as farmland. Buffer or exclusion zones of 750 m around protected areas would exclude 95% of cats, but specialised management, such as periodic confinement during specific active periods, could prove effective during vulnerable prey species’ breeding seasons. These findings improve our understanding of how cat ranging is affected by urbanisation under seasonal variation, and can be used to tailor management strategies as new species and populations are exposed to domestic cat predation.