Feral cat

A feral cat is a domestic cat living outside direct human care. In ecological usage, independence from provisioning is central; other classifications also emphasize lack of socialization to people. The category describes a living condition and relationship with humans, rather than a separate species. A feral cat remains distinct from the naturally wild European wildcat or Afro-Asiatic wildcat.

Definitions should be stated explicitly. SPCA New Zealand distinguishes self-sustaining feral cats from stray cats that still depend to some extent on people, even when no person owns them. Thus unowned, unsocial and independent are not interchangeable observations.^[ref]

Movement measurements provide an ecological example. A 2011 study used radio telemetry and collar-mounted activity sensors to compare owned and unowned free-roaming domestic cats near an Illinois city. Unowned animals had larger home ranges and greater activity in the reported sample. The study's operational category was ownership status; that should not silently be substituted for every stricter definition of feral cat.^[ref]

A collar record measures where an animal moves; it does not by itself reveal its complete feeding history, social experience or inherited ancestry. Combining these observations produces a more useful biological description than assigning the category from one sighting.