Infanticide in rural male cats (Felis catus L.) as a reproductive mating tactic

Here we report six cases of infanticide in the domestic cat directly observ ed in papulations located in the rural environment. This is the first time that infanticide in domestic cats has been witnessed directly and described . All infanticidal males were fully adult and sexually mature unknown males . All kittens killed were within their first week of life. The killing patt ern was generally the same as that described in lions. All females reacted aggressively but could not prevent the infanticide. Three hypotheses are di scussed : (1) infanticide is a remnant of cat male reproductive strategy se lected in the original environment; (2) the conditions of the rural environ ment have created a selection pressure encouraging a polymorphism of infant icidal and noninfanticidal males to evolve; (3) infanticide is an abnormal behaviour caused by environmental conditions such as human disturbance. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.