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Santa Luzia (18º52´, 18º60´N; 24º41´, 24º48´W) is the smallest island (35 km2) in the Cape Verde archipelago1. Although uninhabited today, two families of goatherds lived on Santa Luzia until the mid-1960s. In 1990, together with the nearby islets of Branco and Raso, Santa Luzia was designated a Nature Reserve by law. The island is extremely arid and barren, with hills, stony plains and sand-dunes being the main features. The highest elevation reaches 395 m a.s.l. The vegetation is characterized by a single floristic zone (Duarte et al. 2008), dominated by drought resistant species such as Cistance phelipaea, Polycarpaea nivea, Zygophyllum simplex, Heliotropium ramisissimum, Frankenia ericifolia and Euphorbia tuckeyana (Schleich & Wuttke 1983, Dinis & Matos 1994, Sánchez Pinto et al. 2005). The northern shoreline of the island is characterized by steep cliffs, 10-30 m in height. The remaining shore consists of sandy beaches in the southern part and rocky beaches along the western, north-eastern and eastern coast of the island (Dinis & Matos 1994).
The diet of feral cats Felis catus on Santa Luzia, Cape Verde Islands, was studied. A total of 147 prey items were identified during the analysis of 26 scat groups collected during the summer of 2010. House mouse Mus musculus was the most important prey, both in percentage of biomass and number of preys consumed (89.7% and n= 117, respectively). Reptiles were the second most important prey, represented by one skink species (Chioninia stangeri) and an unidentified gecko species. The remainder of the identified prey consisted of one bird species (Passer iagoensis) and one undetermined Tettigoniidae species (Insecta). No endangered species were identified in scats of this introduced predator, but future surveys must be carried out to further avoid threats to the island's biodiversity.