Feral cat behavior vacuum phenomenon

This is Feral cat behavior vacuum phenomenon:

Perhaps for decades people have been dealing with the "feral cat problem" by trapping (removing) and euthanasia. An estimated 2.2 million are killed this way in the United States yearly. The problem hasn't gone away despite the mass slaughter of these cats. It is like removing water from a sinking boat only the hole where the water is coming in hasn't been repaired.

When feral cats are removed and killed from an area it is natural that new feral cats will occupy the area. For feral cats it is a fight for survival and the areas where feral cats are found are places where survival is a little easier - cats will migrate to the area. The new arrivals will take advantage of the food and other resources available in the area.

The dynamics of feral cat populations and cats' strong territorial behavior dictate that this will happen. This is feral cat behavior vacuum phenomenon. The only moral, sensible and effective way to reduce feral cat populations is TNR. It is also cost effective. It cost $75-$100 to kill and dispose and $25 to TNR (src: Feral Cat Assistance Program). Or is there something sinister going on behind the scenes (see no kill cat shelters)?

It seems that the Australians haven't grasped this concept (at the date of this post).

Feral cat behavior vacuum phenomenon to Feral cats of Australia

Thanks to PubMed Central and Dr. Karen L. Gibson for teaching me this concept.

Feral cat behavior vacuum phenomenon - Photo top right: published under a published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs creative commons License. Photo by Feral Indeed! This is a feral cat undergoing TNR.

---