Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01747:reg:4:p14
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01747
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 4 (pt 14/80)
Character Range: 41871–44706

as discussed in this plan, are owned by a person or people and their needs (food, shelter, veterinary care) may be wholly supplied by their owners. Some pet cats are contained indoors, but others roam.

       * In this plan, management approaches, actions and objectives for pet cats seek to promote and increase the uptake of responsible cat ownership practices, reduce the likelihood of pet cats supplementing the feral cat population, reduce pet cat predation on native species, and reduce pet cats' contributions to pathogen transmission.

In this plan, 'cat' is used to refer to pet and feral cats collectively, whilst the terms 'pet cat' and 'feral cat' are used to refer to those specific subsets of cats. For further information and referenced sources, refer to section 2 of the background document.

     3.2 Cat ecology

Feral cats are medium-sized (females average 3.3 kg, males average 4.2 kg) carnivores that hunt a broad range of animal prey. They are live prey specialists, usually avoiding carrion. Across Australia, the diet of feral cats is highly variable, and also shows some seasonal variation reflecting spatio-temporal changes in the abundance of prey animal species. Mammals tend to be the dominant prey item when available, but birds, reptiles and invertebrates may also be important components of the diet. Although cat diet is broad, individual cats may 'specialise' on particular prey species, or types of prey. Cats are usually nocturnal and crepuscular, but will also hunt during the day (e.g. when nights are cold).

The social, mating and spacing systems of feral cats are flexible, and depend mainly on resource availability. Female feral cats usually occupy mostly non-overlapping ranges of around 5-10 km2 in size (but potentially much larger if resources are scant), with male ranges overlaying those of more than one female. Feral cats will leave their home ranges to take advantage of temporary or seasonal food bounties elsewhere. If resources are extremely limiting, feral cats can leave their ranges and roam large distances in search of food. At the other extreme, when resources are clumped and superabundant (for example, near rubbish dumps in towns), female feral cats can aggregate into matrilineal colonies (or clowders), with males more loosely attached and potentially moving between more than one colony. The mating system varies with the spacing system – cats are polygamous, but as feral cat density decreases it becomes more possible for a single male to control short-term mating access to a receptive female.

Feral cats live for an average of 3–7 years. Males begin breeding at 1 to 2 years of age. Females usually reach sexual maturity in their first year. They are seasonally polyoestrous, coming into breeding condition with increasing daylength (i.e. during 'spring'), and