VWT is delighted to support this PhD in partnership with One Zoo, Aberystwyth University and Queen’s University Belfast.

Information taken from the One Zoo website

The project will survey feral cats (Felis catus) and their associated zoonotic agents across rural areas in Wales and explore the links with environmental factors (e.g. landcover) and anthropogenic activities such as farming practices.

Feral cat population dynamics will be assessed using complementary approaches for abundance estimation including mark recapture, random encounter models and camera trapping alongside population genetic methods of dispersal estimation.

Interspecific behaviours such as predation patterns, recognised as important in zoonotic transmission, will be analysed by faecal dietary analyses. The student will work closely with the Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) in field sampling of feral cats.

Field samples will be interrogated for a range of zoonoses (endoparasites, ectoparasites, diseases and viruses) with the student supported by an assembled team with expertise in aspects of wildlife and human epidemiology, parasitology, immunology, and access to the cutting-edge facilities at Aberystwyth VetHub.

Supervised by Dr Niall McKeown (Aberystwyth University), Dr Sarah Helyar (Queen’s University Belfast), Dr Amanda Gibson (Aberystwyth University), Dr Bibi Linden (Aberystwyth University) and Professor Luis Mur (Aberystwyth University). External partner is Dr Jenny MacPherson at the Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT).

onezoo.uk/projects/cohort-3-projects/ 

Photo: ©Lucy Nord