How scientists used the public’s help to better understand the impacts of felines on local wildlife

Whether it be chasing a laser, tussling a lose piece of string, or diving for a fuzzy ball, house cats are natural hunters. This hunting instinct is engrained in house cat behavior, and is typically occupied through interactions with toys and humans. However, when house cats venture outside or become strays, their affinity towards fluffy balls is redirected towards birds, rodents, and other wildlife. Recently, scientists have started to uncover just how much damage our feline friends can have on our local wildlife.

A new study has aided in our understanding of cat-wildlife interactions while using community-reported data, retrieved through iNaturalist. This article, published in the Mammal Review, discusses how scientists used observations described by individuals across the world to estimate the effects that cats have on various bat populations.

Explore the article on the civic science literature map.

Since its release, iNaturalist has helped inform countless scientific studies and reports, having been cited in thousands of research articles. Organizations and government entities have also designed biodiversity identification programs, like BioBlitz, to encourage community members to contribute to iNaturalist’s massive dataset. By providing detailed encounters, people can aid scientists in their research and conservation efforts of plants and animals across the globe.

With this data in-hand, the team discovered that domestic cats preyed on more than 50 different bat species, around 10% of which are on the IUCN threatened species list.

Using built-in iNaturalist app filters to identify keywords, such as ‘cat’ and ‘prey’, the researchers were able to isolate around 150 postings on the app since 2012. Because iNaturalist requires at least two users, which can often be professional scientists who study bats and mammals, to confirm and ID sightings, the team was able to verify around 50% of the encounters to a specific species. The remaining half were linked to a family or higher taxonomic order.

Another alarming find, was the evidence they found of house cats preying on species like Mops pumilus, which can be a carrier of a strain of ebolavirus — and can be deadly to humans. While the authors report no known cases of bat-cat transmission, or even possible transmission to humans, these close interactions are still worrisome, as cats are often hosts to numerous other diseases that can affect people and livestock. In fact, a 2020 study published in Wildlife Research estimated that diseases that require cats as a host have caused over $6 billion per year in damages to humans and livestock in Australia alone.

The researchers also noted the ability for cats to potentially transmit feline illnesses to other wildlife, which can be detrimental to wildlife populations. Recent genetic research in parts of South America found a number of domestic cat and dog diseases in multiple wild animals, including jaguars, bush dogs, and ocelots — directly linking domestic animal diseases to free-living, wild animals. These diseases can cause a variety of symptoms, almost all of which are lethal to those that are infected. By using encounters recorded on iNaturalist, scientists can better track cat-related diseases and their transmission to other animals.

“The lack of surveillance focused on cats and other pets as bridging hosts for zoonotic spillover events is concerning, considering the recognised risks they pose,” the article states. “Community science is a relatively untapped source of information for pet-wildlife interactions of zoonotic relevance.”

The authors noted that majority of the observations from iNaturalist were recorded in North America and Europe, and argued it is due to a lack of app usage in other regions — not a lack of cat predation. This discrepancy highlights the need for increased usage of community science participants across a global scale, to help expand scientist’s understanding of these cat-bat interactions, among other wildlife issues.

This article emphasizes the need for increased public awareness on this issue, and urges cat owners to reconsider outdoor time for their cat or reduce their predatory urges with a high meat protein diets and lots of playtime. The researchers also developed a list of recommendations for people interested in further helping their studies. Recommendations include, clear photos of the found prey (if possible), listing detailed information about the predation event witnessed and reporting if the cat was feral or not.

“Our collective efforts in collecting and sharing high-quality data on the interactions between cats and wildlife play a crucial role in advancing our comprehension of the risks associated with zoonotic spillover and the magnitude of conservation impacts linked to free-ranging cats,” the article states.

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Gina Errico

Senior Analyst, Science Communication at Civic Science Media Lab

Gina Errico worked with the Los Angeles Times as an AAAS mass media fellow in 2023. She completed her master’s degree in plant biology, which included the study of tree seedling survival in the tropical forests of Costa Rica. As a science communicator, Errico has spent the last several years working with communities and environmental non-profits to disseminate scientific findings to non-scientists through social media, news articles and public outreach.

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