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http://dx.doi.org/10.13047/KJEE.2020.34.1.9

Population Size and Home Range Estimates of Domestic Cats (Felis catus) on Mara Islet, Jeju, in the Republic of Korea  

Kim, Yujin (Animal Resources Division, National Institute of Biological Resources)
Lee, Woo-Shin (Deptartment of Forest Sciences, Seoul National University)
Choi, Chang-Yong (Research Insititute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University)
Publication Information
Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology / v.34, no.1, 2020 , pp. 9-17 More about this Journal
Abstract
Domestic cats (Felis catus) introduced to insular environments can be invasive predators that often threaten endemic species and cause biodiversity loss or local extinction on the island. This study was conducted from March to July 2018 to understand the population size, home range, and spatial use of cats introduced to Mara Islet (N 33° 07', E 126° 16') in Jeju Special Governing Province, the Republic of Korea. Observation records based on their natural marks revealed that there were 20 adult cats on Mara Islet. A capture-recapture method also estimated 20 adult individuals (95% confidence interval: 20-24 individuals). According to our telemetry study on ten adults deployed with GPS-based telemetry units, the home range size was 12.05±6.99 ha (95% KDE: kernel density estimation), and the core habitat size was 1.60±0.77 ha (50% KDE). There were no significant differences in the home range and core habitat sizes by sex. The home range of domestic cats overlapped with the human residential area, where they might secure easy foods. Five of ten tracked cats were active at potential breeding colonies for the Crested Murrlet (Synthliboramphus wumizusume), and six approached potential breeding areas of the Styan's Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella pleskei), suggesting the predation risk of the two endangered species by cats. This study provides novel information on the population size and home range of introduced cats on Mara Islet which is an important stopover site of migratory birds as well as a breeding habitat of the two endangered avian species. Reducing the potential negative impacts of the introduced cats on migratory birds and the endangered species on Mara Islet requires monitoring of the predation rate of birds by cats, the population trends of cats and endangered breeding birds as well as the effective cat population control and management.
Keywords
MARA ISLET; RADIO-TELEMETRY; DOMESTIC CAT; HOME RANGE; PREDATION RISK;
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