Spatiotemporal and Individual Patterns of Domestic Cat () Hunting Behaviour in France.

Domestic cats (), one of the most popular pets, are widespread worldwide. This medium-sized carnivore has well-known negative effects on biodiversity, but there is still a need to better understand the approximate causes of their predation. Based on a citizen science project, we assessed the role of spatiotemporal (i.

Evaluating metabarcoding to analyse diet composition of species foraging in anthropogenic landscapes using Ion Torrent and Illumina sequencing.

DNA metabarcoding of faecal samples is being successfully used to study the foraging niche of species. We assessed the ability of two benchtop high-throughput sequencing (HTS) platforms, to identify a large taxonomic array of food items from domestic cats Felis silvestris catus, including prey and human-related food taxa (pet food and leftovers leaving undetectable solid remains in faeces). Scats from a captive feeding trial (n = 41) and from free-ranging individuals (n = 326) were collected and analysed using a cytb mini-barcode in independent PCR replicates on the Ion PGM and the MiSeq platforms.

Why implantation of bio-loggers may improve our understanding of how animals cope within their natural environment.

Bio-loggers are miniaturized autonomous devices that record quantitative data on the state of free-ranging animals (e.g. behavior, position and physiology) and their natural environment.

Echinococcus multilocularis detection in the intestines and feces of free-ranging domestic cats (Felis s. catus) and European wildcats (Felis s. silvestris) from northeastern France.

Experimental studies have demonstrated that cats can be infected by Echinococcus multilocularis, although few data are available concerning their natural infection. This study was designed to compare experimental findings with information on the prevalence of natural E. multilocularis infections of cats in a rural high endemic area.

Performance and Accuracy of Lightweight and Low-Cost GPS Data Loggers According to Antenna Positions, Fix Intervals, Habitats and Animal Movements.

Recently developed low-cost Global Positioning System (GPS) data loggers are promising tools for wildlife research because of their affordability for low-budget projects and ability to simultaneously track a greater number of individuals compared with expensive built-in wildlife GPS. However, the reliability of these devices must be carefully examined because they were not developed to track wildlife. This study aimed to assess the performance and accuracy of commercially available GPS data loggers for the first time using the same methods applied to test built-in wildlife GPS.

Spatial distribution of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts in soil in a rural area: Influence of cats and land use.

Toxoplasma gondii is the protozoan parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, one of the most prevalent zoonoses worldwide. T. gondii infects humans through the ingestion of meat containing bradyzoites or through soil, food or water contaminated with oocysts.