What are feral colonies?
Feral cats often live together in social and family groups called “colonies”. Colonies can be as small as 2-10 cats on residential properties, or as large as 50-100 cats in urban industrial and public areas. The cats form close bonds with each other and will often defend the colony’s territory from other cats who might seek to access their food and shelter. “Managed” colonies are those that benefit from the attention of caring humans or “caretakers”. Caretakers feed the cats and provide shelter and veterinary care, including spay/neuter surgery, which reduces or eliminates nuisance mating behaviour and prevents more unwanted kittens from being born.
