Research overview: domestic cats threatening wild felids through hybridization

Where domestic cats overlap with wild felids, interbreeding can erode the genetic distinctiveness of wild species, a documented threat to European wildcats and a concern for other small cats near settlements. This overview synthesises genetic research on introgression between domestic and wild cats, the factors driving contact such as feral-cat abundance and habitat overlap, and the conservation challenge of maintaining genetically pure wild populations. It examines detection methods and management including domestic-cat control near sensitive populations. The synthesis frames hybridisation as a quiet genetic threat that free-ranging domestic cats pose to their wild relatives across human-influenced landscapes.