Research overview: dispersal mortality in subadult felids

The dispersal phase is among the most dangerous periods in a young cat's life, as subadults move through unfamiliar and often occupied or human-dominated terrain. This overview surveys evidence that dispersing subadults experience elevated mortality from territorial conspecifics, vehicle collisions, conflict with people, and starvation while establishing a range. It considers how this mortality shapes population dynamics and the recruitment of new breeders. The review discusses how landscape connectivity and the availability of vacant territory influence dispersal survival. Understanding dispersal mortality is critical for conservation, since high losses during dispersal can limit population growth and gene flow even when reproduction and adult survival appear adequate within core habitat.