Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

A review on the impacts of feral cats (Felis silvestris catus) in the Canary Islands: implications for the conservation of its endangered fauna

A review on the impacts of feral cats (Felis silvestris catus) in the Canary Islands:... Feral cats have been directly responsible for the extinction of numerous species on islands worldwide, including endemic species of mammals, birds and reptiles. The diet of feral cats in the main habitats of the Canary Islands, as generally occurred on oceanic islands, is mainly composed of introduced mammals, and native species of birds, reptiles and insects. The impact of feral cat upon the endangered species was assessed by evaluating their relative abundance in the cats’ diet and by considering their current conservation status. A total of 68 different preys were identified at species level in all studies carried out in the Canary Islands (5 mammals, 16 birds, 15 reptiles and 32 invertebrates). From all the species preyed by feral cats in the Canary Islands, only four of them are considered threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: one endemic bird Saxicola dacotiae and three endemic giant lizards, Gallotia simonyi, Gallotia intermedia, and Gallotia gomerana. Although some efforts on management control have been carried out, it is necessary to enforce these conservation activities on those areas of Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro where giant lizards are still present. Furthermore some local areas where endangered bird species are highly predated should be protected. Nevertheless, it is important to take into account the presence of other introduced species such as rats, mice or rabbits in order to avoid problems derived from the hyperpredation process and mesopredator release effect. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Biodiversity and Conservation Springer Journals

A review on the impacts of feral cats (Felis silvestris catus) in the Canary Islands: implications for the conservation of its endangered fauna

Download PDF
18 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/a-review-on-the-impacts-of-feral-cats-felis-silvestris-catus-in-the-XKyUlE4lVK

References (73)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 by Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Subject
Life Sciences; Plant Sciences ; Tree Biology; Evolutionary Biology
ISSN
0960-3115
eISSN
1572-9710
DOI
10.1007/s10531-008-9503-4
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Feral cats have been directly responsible for the extinction of numerous species on islands worldwide, including endemic species of mammals, birds and reptiles. The diet of feral cats in the main habitats of the Canary Islands, as generally occurred on oceanic islands, is mainly composed of introduced mammals, and native species of birds, reptiles and insects. The impact of feral cat upon the endangered species was assessed by evaluating their relative abundance in the cats’ diet and by considering their current conservation status. A total of 68 different preys were identified at species level in all studies carried out in the Canary Islands (5 mammals, 16 birds, 15 reptiles and 32 invertebrates). From all the species preyed by feral cats in the Canary Islands, only four of them are considered threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: one endemic bird Saxicola dacotiae and three endemic giant lizards, Gallotia simonyi, Gallotia intermedia, and Gallotia gomerana. Although some efforts on management control have been carried out, it is necessary to enforce these conservation activities on those areas of Tenerife, La Gomera and El Hierro where giant lizards are still present. Furthermore some local areas where endangered bird species are highly predated should be protected. Nevertheless, it is important to take into account the presence of other introduced species such as rats, mice or rabbits in order to avoid problems derived from the hyperpredation process and mesopredator release effect.

Journal

Biodiversity and Conservation – Springer Journals

Published: Oct 21, 2008

There are no references for this article.