The effect of collar weight and capture frequency on bodyweight in feral cats (Felis catus)

Ned L. Ryan-Schofield; Katherine E. Moseby; Todd J. McWhorter; Sarah M. Legge; Hugh W. McGregor

doi:10.1071/WR24024

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Contents Vol 51(6)

The effect of collar weight and capture frequency on bodyweight in feral cats (Felis catus)

Ned L. Ryan-Schofield

^A ^B ^* , Katherine E. Moseby

^C ^D , Todd J. McWhorter

^E , Sarah M. Legge

^F ^G and Hugh W. McGregor

^D ^F ^H

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.

^B Bush Heritage Australia, Level 10, 637 Flinders Street, Docklands, Melbourne, Vic 3008, Australia.

^C School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.

^D Arid Recovery, P.O. Box 147, Roxby Downs, SA 5725, Australia.

^E School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, SA 5371, Australia.

^F Threatened Species Recovery Hub, National Environmental Science Program, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4067, Australia.

^G Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2602, Australia.

^H School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tas 7001, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: ned.ryan-schofield@adelaide.edu.au

Handling Editor: Penny Fisher

Wildlife Research 51, WR24024 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR24024

Submitted: 22 February 2024 Accepted: 11 May 2024 Published: 30 May 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Animal-borne devices can affect animal survival, reproduction, and behaviour through both the addition of weight and bulk and the direct effects of initial and subsequent capture. Researchers commonly employ a general rule of thumb that weight of the device must be less than 5% of bodyweight for terrestrial animals; however, this threshold has little empirical basis.

Aims

We evaluated the effects of environmental variables, repeated capture, and weight of animal-borne devices on bodyweight in free-ranging feral cats.

Methods

We recaptured feral cats at varying frequencies, wearing GPS and/or VHF collars that ranged from 0.29% to 4.88% of bodyweight, and recorded change in cat weight over time.

Key results

Collar weight as a percentage of bodyweight was not a significant predictor of feral cat weight change. Rather, change in bodyweight was best described by a negative relationship with an increasing temperature and number of captures, and a positive relationship with time since collar attachment.

Conclusions

Capture had a significant influence on feral cat weight but collar weights up to 5% of bodyweight did not significantly contribute to weight loss. However, the absence of control cats without collars hindered definitive conclusions on the effect of collar weight on cat weight change.

Implications

Researchers should space capture and handling events more than 30 days apart to reduce effects of weight loss from capture and handling. Researchers should also consider increasing collar weight and reducing frequency of capture (where collars are less than 5% of bodyweight), particularly if cat bodyweight is a parameter of interest.

Keywords: biologger, bodyweight, capture, collar impacts, condition, handling, neophobia, recapture, stress, weight change.

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