Drivers of predation by pet cats: environment overcomes predator’s intrinsic characteristics

The domestic cat ( Felis catus ) is one of the most abundant predators and a serious threat to many wildlife species. While a large body of literature explores the number and diversity of individuals depredated by pet cats, the drivers of predation have been investigated much less. Although the environment of the cat, the owner behavior, and the intrinsic characteristics of the cat itself could impact the predatory behavior and should therefore not be considered separately, very few studies simultaneously take these three components into account. In this study, we explored 21 concomitant drivers of predation by pet cats linked to these three components at different scales, to explain the owners-reported frequencies of captured birds, mammals, and herpetofauna. Among the 1,400 sociological surveys received from cat owners, 740 reliable answers were analyzed. Results suggest that the owners-reported prey capture frequencies were strongly influenced by the environment, especially by factors relating to urbanization. Rural owners were around two times more likely to report more frequent predation events than owners living in urban areas, whatever the group of prey studied. As a result, the urban habitat variable had the highest impact on predation in this study. An experimental approach would be beneficial to identify the factors influencing the reported predation rates, which are causally related to the number of wild animals killed.