TNR & feeding reduces impacts to wildlife

February 2025 Recent new research has evidence that TNR & feeding does assist in reducing impacts to wildlife.

TinyKittens group played an integral part in this leading research.

This was based in a farm and provides the controls to determine the benefits of a colony or group of community cats.

These are domestic cats, commonly known as “strays” or “semi owned” in Australia. See our last image as to why this is relevant to Australia.

TinyKittens group played an integral part in this leading research.

The impacts to wildlife are a significant concern in Australia.

Most stray / semi owned / community cats reside in urban areas.

LRC recommends that instead of broad brushing impacts, each Local Government Area should complete studies of the wildlife which is at risk and the community cats in their areas to provide specific priorities and plans to address the issues.

Stray or semi owned cats are domestic cats, who once being abandoned, have come under the care of other people. This is usually for food, then also desexing and medical care, and rehoming.

It is something that is commonsense that for many (maybe not all) cats, if you feed them well, then they are less likely to hunt for their own food. Remember this are domestic cats who are used to being fed by humans and continue to be reliant on people in urban landscapes.

This research provides evidence that this is the case.

This research provides the proof / evidence that managed colonies including TNR (desexing and returning to a location) and feeding, assist with minimising impacts to wildlife.

In Australia, one of the main concerns to dismiss TNR for semi owned cats in urban areas is often the view that “all cats hunt”.

This research proves that that is not true for all cats. We do not dispute that some cats may still hunt. LRC supports a number of initiatives for effective and efficient cat management.