Research overview: carrying capacity of urban free-roaming cats

Cities support large free-roaming cat populations sustained by food subsidies, and this overview surveys research on what determines their density and carrying capacity. It examines how food availability from feeding, refuse and rodents, along with shelter and human tolerance, set the number of cats an urban area can hold, and how densities far exceed those of comparable wild predators. The survey discusses the implications for management, since reducing food subsidies may lower carrying capacity, and for predation, disease and welfare at high densities. It considers spatial variation across neighbourhoods and the interplay of owned, stray and feral cats. By compiling this work, the survey clarifies that urban cat numbers are driven largely by human-provided resources, a key lever for any strategy to manage free-roaming cat populations in cities.