ABSTRACT Control or eradication of feral cats (Felis cattus) is necessary for a number of reasons, including controlling zoonotic diseases and protecting native species in New Zealand. Estimating feral cat density provides vital information about location and logistical effort required for control operations but current methods used to estimate feral cat densities are often labour intensive and invasive, and may not provide appropriate baseline data. We determined the effectiveness of using camera traps to estimate a feral cat population compared with live-capture trapping in a semi-rural park. Camera trapping, with capture–recapture statistical modelling, was used to estimate population density of feral cats as between 1.06 and 1.19 cats/km2 with an individual detection probability of 5.3% per camera/night. Camera trapping (seven individual feral cats identified) was a valuable addition to live trapping of feral cats (four cats live trapped) and provided a cost-effective, non-invasive and potentially more accurate tool for wildlife managers and researchers to measure feral cat densities.

中文翻译：

---

使用相机陷阱估计农村到城市梯度中野猫（Felis catus）的密度

摘要 出于多种原因，控制或根除野猫 (Felis cattus) 是必要的，包括控制人畜共患疾病和保护新西兰的本地物种。估计野猫密度​​提供了有关控制操作所需的位置和后勤工作的重要信息，但当前用于估计野猫密度​​的方法通常是劳动密集型和侵入性的，并且可能无法提供适当的基线数据。我们确定了使用相机陷阱来估计野猫种群与半农村公园中的现场捕获诱捕相比的有效性。使用捕获-重新捕获统计模型的相机捕获来估计野猫的种群密度在 1.06 到 1.19 只猫/km2 之间，每个相机/夜的个体检测概率为 5.3%。