Domestic cat (Felis catus) preys reported by volunteers within the project Feral Cats
Citation
Sanglas A, Palomares F (2024). Domestic cat (Felis catus) preys reported by volunteers within the project Feral Cats. Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC). Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15470/odgx00 accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-12.Description
Observations of captures and/or predation events performed by domestic cats (Felis catus) reported through the questionnaire set up for this purpose in the framework of the project Feral Cats - WP4 SUMHAL or through the online platform Observation.org. Most of the events are prey brought home by cats and reported by their owners with associated images that have been used to identify the prey to the most specific taxonomic level possible. These images can be found at Digital CSIC or linked to the observation uploaded to Observation.org. The goal of this dataset is to explore the diversity of species that free-roaming domestic cats hunt and to assess which species or animal groups predominate in their catches.Purpose
The goal was to study the diversity of species that free-ranging domestic cats might be preying on.
Sampling Description
Study Extent
Reports of prey brought home and other occasional events were kept only when they came from Spanish peninsular locations in order to follow the aims of SUMHAL.Sampling
A citizen science questionnaire was created in the framework of Feral Cats project in order to collect data on prey captured by domestic cats. The project and a link to the questionnaire were advertised several times through online social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), mailing lists and Whatsapp groups and contacts. Volunteers were asked to attach/upload pictures or videos about prey brought home by their own cats or to report occasional predation events performed by unowned cats such as cats living in a colony (either managed or not) or cats with unknown origin. The questionnaire was launched in autumn 2021 and kept open until the end of summer 2023. In addition, and taking advantage of the fact that the Observation.org website allows uploading species observations with the tag "captured by cat", the project was also shared and advertised through its newsletter. Despite the promotion of Feral Cats project, Observation.org already had predation events dated prior to the start of our project which were included in this database due to convergence with the project's aim. The query to download Observation.org data with the "capture by cat" tag was made in 24th May 2023, so any predation event reported after this date will not appear in this database.Quality Control
For predation events reported through the Feral Cats questionnaire: Fake pictures or non-related pictures such as playing kittens, pictures with no apparent prey on it or people selfies, were discarded as valid predation events. Valid events from other countries or Spanish regions outside Iberian Peninsula, were also discarded for not being of interest for the project. In addition, those events reporting species whose distributions are not present in Spain, were also discarded. Remaining pictures were identified to the most specific taxonomic level possible by experts. For predation events reported through Observation.org, the validation status provided by the platform was used. Any reported event tagged as accepted (either "with evidence ", "by admin" or "automatic validation") was left unchanged. Those observations tagged as "unknown" that had not been yet validated on the date the data was downloaded from the platform, were checked by an expert and the species taxon or level changed when appropriate. Unfortunately, those changes could not be translated into changes in the original observation due to a lack of permissions in Observation.org.Method steps
- Events coming from Feral Cats questionnaire were divided based on the type of cat the capture/predation event was from. Entries were separated in "owned", "colony" and "unknown". People selecting "owned" were asked the cat age, sex and sexual condition (neutered/spayed) of their pets. This information is missing in those events coming from Observation.org since the platform has its own structure to introduce the information of the observations. In terms of event coordinates, Observation.org events have more accurate coordinates, since the platform has an interactive map that allows you to select the exact point where the event has occurred. Volunteers who reported predation events through the Feral Cats questionnaire were asked to indicate the postal code instead of coordinates to make the procedure easier for them. Once the data from the questionnaire was downloaded, postal code was used to extract the centroid coordinates of its associated municipality, meaning that the species reported is present within the municipality borders but not necessarily where the centroid coordinates indicate.
Taxonomic Coverages
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Anacridium aegyptiumrank: species
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Anguis fragilisrank: species
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Apodemusrank: genus
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Apodemus sylvaticusrank: species
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Apus apusrank: species
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Apusrank: genus
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Arvicola amphibiusrank: species
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Atelerix algirusrank: species
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Avesrank: class
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Carduelis carduelisrank: species
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Cecropis dauricarank: species
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Chalcides bedriagairank: species
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Chalcides striatusrank: species
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Chamaeleo chamaeleonrank: species
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Chiropterarank: order
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Chloris chlorisrank: species
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Chordatarank: phylum
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Chroicocephalus ridibundusrank: species
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Columbarank: genus
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Columba liviarank: species
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Columba palumbusrank: species
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Cricetidaerank: family
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Crocidura russularank: species
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Crocidurarank: genus
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Cyanistes caeruleusrank: species
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Delichon urbicumrank: species
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Dendrocopos majorrank: species
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Eliomys quercinusrank: species
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Emberiza cirlusrank: species
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Epidalea calamitarank: species
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Erithacus rubecularank: species
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Ficedula hypoleucarank: species
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Fringilia coelebsrank: species
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Fringillidaerank: family
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Hemorrhois hippocrepisrank: species
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Ixobrychus minutusrank: species
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Jynx torquillarank: species
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Lacerta schreiberirank: species
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Linaria cannabinarank: species
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Macroprotodon brevisrank: species
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Macroprotodon cucullatusrank: species
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Malpolon monspessulanusrank: species
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Microtus arvalisrank: species
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Microtus duodecimcostatusrank: species
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Microtus lusitanicusrank: species
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Microtusrank: genus
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Muridaerank: family
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Musrank: genus
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Mus musculusrank: species
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Mus spretusrank: species
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Mustela nivalisrank: species
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Natrix maurarank: species
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Oryctolagus cuniculusrank: species
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Papilio machaonrank: species
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Parus majorrank: species
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Passer domesticusrank: species
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Passer hispanolensisrank: species
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Passer montanusrank: species
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Passeriformesrank: order
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Pelophylax perezirank: species
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Periparus aterrank: species
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Phoenicurus ochrurosrank: species
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Phoenicurus phoenicurusrank: species
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Phylloscopus collybitarank: species
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Pica picarank: species
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Pieris brassicaerank: species
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Pipistrellusrank: genus
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Plecotusrank: genus
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Podarcis bocageirank: species
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Podarcis liolepisrank: species
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Podarcis muralisrank: species
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Podarcis vaucherirank: species
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Podarcisrank: genus
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Prunella modularisrank: species
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Psammodromus algirusrank: species
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Psammodromus occidentalisrank: species
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Rattusrank: genus
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Rattus norvegicusrank: species
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Rattus rattusrank: species
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Rhinechis scalarisrank: species
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Rodentiarank: order
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Sciurus vulgarisrank: species
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Serinus serinusrank: species
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Sorex coronatusrank: species
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Soricidaerank: family
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Streptopelia decaoctorank: species
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Sturnus unicolorrank: species
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Sturnus vulgarisrank: species
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Suncus etruscusrank: species
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Sylvia atricapillarank: species
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Sylvia melanocephalarank: species
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Talpa occidentalisrank: species
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Tarentola mauritanicarank: species
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Timon lepidusrank: species
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Troglodytes troglodytesrank: species
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Turdusrank: genus
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Turdus merularank: species
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Turdus philomelosrank: species
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Vanessa atalantarank: species
Geographic Coverages
Reports of preys brought home and other opportunistic predation events coming from unknown free-ranging cats were kept only when they came from Spanish peninsular locations in order to follow the aims of SUMHAL.
Bibliographic Citations
Contacts
Ariadna Sanglasoriginator
position: Research assistant
Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Avda. Américo Vespucio 26
Sevilla
41092
ES
email: ariadna.sanglas@gmail.com
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5419-8310
Francisco Palomares
originator
position: Principal investigator
Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Avda. Américo Vespucio 26
Sevilla
41092
ES
email: ffpaloma@ebd.csic.es
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4655-7205
Ariadna Sanglas
metadata author
position: Research assistant
Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Avda. Américo Vespucio 26
Sevilla
41092
ES
email: ariadna.sanglas@gmail.com
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5419-8310
Francisco Palomares
metadata author
position: Principal investigator
Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Avda. Américo Vespucio 26
Sevilla
41092
ES
email: ffpaloma@ebd.csic.es
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4655-7205
Ariadna Sanglas
content provider
position: Research assistant
Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Avda. Américo Vespucio 26
Sevilla
41092
ES
email: ariadna.sanglas@gmail.com
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5419-8310
Francisco Palomares
content provider
position: Principal investigator
Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Avda. Américo Vespucio 26
Sevilla
41092
ES
email: ffpaloma@ebd.csic.es
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4655-7205
Francisco Palomares
administrative point of contact
position: Principal investigator
Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
Avda. Américo Vespucio 26
Sevilla
41092
ES
email: ffpaloma@ebd.csic.es
userId: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4655-7205