Roaming habits of pet cats on the suburban fringe in Perth, Western Australia: What size buffer zone is needed to protect wildlife in reserves?

Abstract

We radiotracked 18 pet cats Felis catus from rural and urban areas within the City of Armadale, Western Australia, both at night and during the day between August 2003 and February 2005 to estimate the size of buffer zone required to reduce incursions by pet cats into native bushland. Home ranges of rural cats ranged from 0.07ha to 2.86ha, while those of urban cats were 0.01 ha to 0.64ha. Male and female cats had similar home ranges and there was no evidence of seasonal differences in home ranges.The longest linear distance moved by any cat was 300m, so allowing a 20% margin for estimation error a buffer zone of 360m is needed to reduce incursions by pet cats into native bushland in this municipality.