Piloting an International Comparison of Readily Accessible Online English Language Advice Surrounding Responsible Cat Ownership.

Cats are popular companion animals globally. While the general academic definition of responsible cat ownership is agreed upon, committing to responsible cat ownership is multifaceted, often reflecting regional priorities and values. Utilising a virtual private network (VPN), an English-language online search for 'responsible cat ownership' was applied from major cities in 10 different nations, accounting for five different geographic regions and nine different geographic sub-regions.

Research publications of Australia's natural history museums, 1981-2020: Enduring relevance in a changing world.

As a case study of the responses of natural history museums to changing scientific and funding environments, we analysed research publications of Australia's Natural History Museums (ANHMs) 1981-2020. Using Scopus, 9,923 relevant documents 1981-2020 were identified, mainly research papers but with a growing proportion of reviews. The number of documents published increased over tenfold from 39 (1981) to 553 (2020), likely driven by collaborations (rising from 28.

Intensive Adoption as a Management Strategy for Unowned, Urban Cats: A Case Study of 25 Years of Trap-Assess-Resolve (TAR) in Auckland, New Zealand.

Globally, unowned urban cats are a major concern because they may suffer from poor welfare and cause problems, including public health risks, nuisances, and urban wildlife predation. While management options are often presented as a choice between culling or trap−neuter−return (TNR), for 25 years, the Lonely Miaow (Inc.) charity in Auckland, New Zealand (hereafter LM), has used a third strategy—intensive adoption or trap−assess−resolve (TAR).

Evidence for Citation Networks in Studies of Free-Roaming Cats: A Case Study Using Literature on Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).

Trap-Neuter-Return and its variants (hereafter TNR) aims to control unowned cat populations. Papers on this topic form a useful case study of how how an area of literature grows, papers become influential, and citation networks form, influencing future study as well as public perceptions of the science. We analysed 145 TNR studies published 2002-2019.

Body Size and Bite Force of Stray and Feral Cats-Are Bigger or Older Cats Taking the Largest or More Difficult-to-Handle Prey?

As carnivorans rely heavily on their head and jaws for prey capture and handling, skull morphology and bite force can therefore reflect their ability to take larger or more difficult-to-handle prey. For 568 feral and stray cats (), we recorded their demographics (sex and age), source location (feral or stray) and morphological measures (body mass, body condition); we estimated potential bite force from skull measurements for = 268 of these cats, and quantified diet composition from stomach contents for = 358. We compared skull measurements to estimate their bite force and determine how it varied with sex, age, body mass, body condition.

Response to Wolf et al.: Furthering Debate over the Suitability of Trap-Neuter-Return for Stray Cat Management.

To continue dialogue over proposed Australian trials of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), we applied a framework requiring identification of areas of agreement, areas of disagreement, and identification of empirical data collection required to resolve disagreements. There is agreement that Australia has a problem with stray cats, causing problems of impacts on wildlife, nuisance, disease transmission (including public health issues and exchange of diseases between stray cat and pet cat populations), poor welfare outcomes for stray cats, and an emotional burden on staff euthanising healthy stray cats. There is disagreement on whether (i) current measures are failing, leading to unacceptably high euthanasia levels, (ii) some contributors to the debate misunderstand TNR, (iii) TNR trials will reduce urban cat populations and associated problems, (iv) TNR is an ethical solution to cat overpopulation, and (v) some contributors to the debate promulgated misinformation.

Cat Gets Its Tern: A Case Study of Predation on a Threatened Coastal Seabird.

Domestic cats have a cosmopolitan distribution, commonly residing in urban, suburban and peri-urban environments that are also critical for biodiversity conservation. This study describes the impact of a desexed, free-roaming cat on the behavior of a threatened coastal seabird, the Australian Fairy Tern, , in Mandurah, south-western Australia. Wildlife cameras and direct observations of cat incursions into the tern colony at night, decapitated carcasses of adult terns, dead, injured or missing tern chicks, and cat tracks and scats around the colony provided strong evidence of cat predation, which led to an initial change in nesting behavior and, ultimately, colony abandonment and the reproductive failure of 111 nests.

Measuring the Welfare Impact of Soft-Catch Leg-Hold Trapping for Feral Cats on Non-Target By-Catch.

To inform trapping protocols to reduce by-catch while trapping feral cats by-catch welfare costs should be quantified. During cat trapping programs at six Western Australian sites from 1997-2015, 431 non-target individuals, including 232 individuals from native species (132 mammals, 52 birds and 42 reptiles) were captured. Among the native fauna; birds were more likely to be severely injured (33%, compared to 12% in mammals and 21% in reptiles).

A Case of Letting the Cat out of The Bag-Why Trap-Neuter-Return Is Not an Ethical Solution for Stray Cat () Management.

Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs, in which stray cats are captured, neutered and returned to the environment are advocated as a humane, ethical alternative to euthanasia. We review the TNR literature in light of current debate over whether or not there should be further TNR trials in Australia. We revisit the problems arising from stray cats living in association with human habitation and estimate how many stray cats would have to be processed through a scientifically-guided TNR program to avoid high euthanasia rates.

Attitudes and Practices of Australian Veterinary Professionals and Students towards Early Age Desexing of Cats.

Surgical desexing of cats is typically carried out after six months of age (Mature Age Desexing, MAD); between 4⁻6 months (Traditional Age Desexing, TAD); or before four months (Early Age Desexing, EAD). We complemented existing surveys of veterinarians' acceptance of EAD with online and face-to-face surveys, to ascertain the preferred desexing ages for cats and rationale of 957 Australian veterinarians, veterinary nurses, veterinary science students, and veterinary nursing students. A complementary survey of 299 veterinary practice websites across Australia documented any information provided about desexing cats.

Using Free Adoptions to Reduce Crowding and Euthanasia at Cat Shelters: An Australian Case Study.

Many healthy adult cats are euthanised annually in shelters, and novel approaches are required to reduce euthanasia rates. Waiving adoption fees is one such approach. However, concerns that less responsible owners will be attracted to free events persist among welfare groups.

Community Attitudes and Practices of Urban Residents Regarding Predation by Pet Cats on Wildlife: An International Comparison.

International differences in practices and attitudes regarding pet cats' interactions with wildlife were assessed by surveying citizens from at least two cities in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the USA, China and Japan. Predictions tested were: (i) cat owners would agree less than non-cat owners that cats might threaten wildlife, (ii) cat owners value wildlife less than non-cat owners, (iii) cat owners are less accepting of cat legislation/restrictions than non-owners, and (iv) respondents from regions with high endemic biodiversity (Australia, New Zealand, China and the USA state of Hawaii) would be most concerned about pet cats threatening wildlife. Everywhere non-owners were more likely than owners to agree that pet cats killing wildlife were a problem in cities, towns and rural areas.

Hematologic and serum biochemical reference ranges and an assessment of exposure to infectious diseases prior to translocation of the threatened western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis).

Health screening of animals before translocation is important to minimize the risk of pathogen transmission between sites and species. Reintroduction has been incorporated into management of the endangered western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) to mitigate for habitat loss within the species' core range in southwestern Australia. Between November 2005 and March 2008 we screened 47 wild and 24 captive P.

Seedling mycorrhizal type and soil chemistry are related to canopy condition of Eucalyptus gomphocephala.

The health of Eucalyptus gomphocephala is declining within its natural range in south-western Australia. In a pilot study to assess whether changes in mycorrhizal fungi and soil chemistry might be associated with E. gomphocephala decline, we set up a containerized bioassay experiment with E.

Patterns of citations of open access and non-open access conservation biology journal papers and book chapters.

Open access (OA) publishing, whereby authors, their institutions, or their granting bodies pay or provide a repository through which peer-reviewed work is available online for free, is championed as a model to increase the number of citations per paper and disseminate results widely, especially to researchers in developing countries. We compared the number of citations of OA and non-OA papers in six journals and four books published since 2000 to test whether OA increases number of citations overall and increases citations made by authors in developing countries. After controlling for type of paper (e.