La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Weighed down by science: do collar-mounted devices affect domestic cat behaviour and movement?
Auteurs :	Cayley E. Coughlin, Auteur ; Yolanda van Heezik, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Wildlife Research (41(7) 2014)
Article en page(s) :	606-614
Langues:	Anglais
Résumé :	Context Animals carrying tracking and logging devices are subject to a range of instrument effects that negatively affect survival, reproduction and behaviour. The common recommendation is that device weight should not exceed 5% body mass (BM) for terrestrial species; however, this rule-of-thumb has little empirical basis. Modelling indicates that devices weighing less than 3% BM may still have impacts. Several studies have used telemetry and data loggers on domestic cats (Felis catus) with instruments ranging in weight from 30g to 125g, but there has been no quantitative evaluation of instrument effects. In addition, inexpensive GPS tags such as iGotU are increasingly being used to track domestic cats, but often with little acknowledgement of habitat-related location error. Aims We evaluated the impact of wearing devices of different weights on domestic cat movements, and quantified location error across typical suburban habitats. Methods We recorded movements of cats wearing three different GPS collar weights for a week at a time: light, 30g (

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