Thursday, June 06, 2013
There are over 10 million pet cats in the UK, but what they really get up to when they leave the home has been something of a mystery - until now.
Using miniaturised lion GPS collars scientists were able to track cats' secret journeys - day and night, to find out exactly where they go when they leave the catflap.
Fifty cats in the surrey village of Shamley Green were put under 24-hour surveillance, their every movement was recorded, day and night, as they hunted in their backyards and patrolled the garden fences and hedgerows.
The ground-breaking "live study" was filmed especially for BBC Two's Horizon. The programme will be screened at 9pm Thursday June 13.
Dr Ellis from the University of Lincoln trained the cats to wear the GPS collars and cat-cams, and helped owners interpret the findings.
She said: "We collected a huge amount of data, simultaneously over the course of a week, which is potentially the greatest data-set of this sort collated from pet cats.
"Having decided which cats were most suitable to wear the GPS collars and cameras, we had to prioritise which questions we wanted to answer, what behaviours we should look out for and how we should interpret this data."
Cats were monitored back in the studio, with help from Lincoln research students, Naima Kasbaoui and Kevin Mahon, who are working on issues associated with roaming cats and its management for their PhDs.
This experiment sheds new light on how cats hunt; what happens when cats square up in our gardens and how they establish and defend their territories exteneding our backyards.
The programme will also feature research into cats' purring and vocalisation as well as work on the relationships between cats and their owners.
The horizon project was a collaboration
with Professor Alan wilson from the royal Veterinary College, whose main research focus is on high speed locomotion in animals.
with Professor Alan wilson from the royal Veterinary College, whose main research focus is on high speed locomotion in animals.
To view footage of the programme go to There are over 10 million pet cats in the UK, but what they really get up to when they leave the home has been something of a mystery - until now.
Using miniaturised lion GPS collars scientists were able to track cats' secret journeys - day and night, to find out exactly where they go when they leave the catflap.
Read more:
Follow us: @ThisisLincs on Twitter | ThisisLincolnshire on Facebook
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!