Cat Management in Remote Indigenous Communities: Tracking Cats and Owner Perceptions

O'Rourke, Paris

Cat Management in Remote Indigenous Communities: Tracking Cats and Owner Perceptions

Authors

O'Rourke, Paris

Date

2022

Affiliation

Office for Environmental Programs

Full item page

Document Type

Masters Coursework thesis

Access Status

Open Access

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11343/319480

Description

Abstract

Cat management is a complex and controversial topic. In remote Australian Aboriginal communities cats are increasingly becoming a popular and a much-loved companion animal. With limited access to veterinary services, including desexing, cat populations in some remote communities are growing rapidly. This study investigated owner perceptions and relationships with cats, and the movement ecology of cats in two distinct bioregions; the Northern Tanami, and the Tiwi Islands. The study engaged community members through semi-structured interviews, and GPS tracked free-roaming community cats. These cat populations have a close association with humans, increasing the potential transmission of zoonotic diseases. Unmanaged cat populations can have a devastating effect on local biodiversity through predation of native wildlife, and indirectly through disease. However, qualitative enquiry revealed that the human-cat relationship is valued in the remote communities in which research was conducted. To effectively mitigate and prevent adverse outcomes resulting from cat overpopulation, multidisciplinary cat management strategies must be tailored to the needs of the local community, and reflect community traditions, values and ownership practices. Collecting sound information on drivers for cat ownership, local cat numbers and community perspectives is a vital step to inform future cat management in remote Aboriginal communities.

Keywords

domestic cat, Felis catus, Indigenous community, population management, cat management

Collections

Office for Environmental Programs - Theses