COMPARISON OF THE DIET OF FERAL CATS FROM RURAL AND PASTORAL WESTERN-AUSTRALIA

The stomach contents of 93 cats from rural and pastoral Western Austra lia were compared using the number and biomass of food items, and by c alculating an Index of Relative Importance for each food category. Spe cies of small native mammals (e.g. dasyurids, rodents) and geckos were significantly (P < 0.03) more prevalent in the diet of pastoral cab, and rural cats consumed greater (P < 0.03) quantities of introduced ro dents and rabbits. Several other groups of native animals (e.g. snakes , skinks, agamids) were also more prevalent in the stomachs of pastora l cats (P < 0.10). Birds and orthopterans were important food items to cats from both habitats. There was reasonable dietary overlap (mean = 0.71) between the cats from both habitats, but the dietary breadth of the pastoral cab (mean = 0.44) was two-fold greater than that of the rural cats (mean = 0.21). These findings are compared with previous st udies, and are discussed with respect to possible implications for fut ure management strategies for feral cars.