According to a modelling study published in Scientific Reports, the number of cats without owners in urban areas of the UK is estimated at 247,429. The researchers believe that urban areas with high human densities and higher levels of poverty may have more ownerless cats (feral cats, lost or abandoned cats).
The researchers modeled data from 3101 resident surveys in five cities and towns in England between 2016 and 2018 and analyzed the findings using 877 independent resident reports and 601 expert reports. The two important factors predicting the emergence of masterless cats in the model are socioeconomic poverty (predicting 31% of the variation in the abundance of the ownerless cat) and human population density (predicting 7% of the variation in the abundance of the ownerless cat).
The researchers expanded the model to use data on human population density and poverty to estimate the density of unowned cats in England and across the UK. The findings suggest that there are an average of 9.3 ownerless cats per square kilometre in the UK, but there are between 1.9 and 57 unowned cats per square kilometre, depending on the location.
Researchers believe that in densely populated areas, there may be more cats as pets, and they may accidentally give birth, be abandoned or stray from home. In areas with high human population densities, unowned cats may also be supported by access to nutrient sources, such as food waste for humans. The researchers speculate that in highly impoverished areas, the factors that hinder the timely sterilization of pet cats may be related to the higher density of unowned cats.
The study's model is estimated based on data, and many factors may affect the population of each region, but the model provides insight into the density of unowned cats in the UK and may help guide and manage interventions.
A research paper titled Human influences shape the first spatially explicit national estimate of urban unowned cat abundance was published in Scientific Reports.
Forward-looking Economist APP Information Group
Original text of the paper:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-99298-6