It is important to note this is not the definition set by the platform. An organism does not have to be part of a self-sustaining population to be considered “wild”. For example, lizards transported on shipping containers to regions where they cannot survive should still be marked as wild.
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Maybe they persist somewhere in North America, but in most of Europe feral cats are largely dependent on people. In Europe there is a wild cat (Felis silvestris) - endangered animal, which lives in the wild. I have never heard of populations of feral domestic cats that would live away from human habitations.
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Why would “away from human habitations” be a requirement? Are House Sparrows captive in your eyes? House Centipedes? Fruit flies? German Cockroaches?
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I agree with this totally. But here is talk about animal which is initially domestic, so to be called wild it has to form stable wild population - like feral pigeon (Columba livia domestica).
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An established population is NOT a requirement to be wild on iNaturalist.
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Because we are referring to an initially domestic animal. Neither of the ones you mentioned are domestic. Besides, all these animals you mentioned can be found away from human habitations, only in smaller, though still viable populations
Both initially domestic individuals and species only found near human habitation can qualify for wild under iNaturalist’s definition.
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This is iNat’s definition:
Checking captive / cultivated means that the observation is of an organism that exists in the time and place it was observed because humans intended it to be then and there. Likewise, wild / naturalized organisms exist in particular times and places because they intended to do so.
I think it’s generally been assumed that pets that return “home” for care should be marked as “not wild”. But as @raymie pointed out, that isn’t explicitly part of the definition, but perhaps staff has made comment on this somewhere on another forum thread.
In any case, escaped pets (beyond very short-term escapees, like, my dog got out of the house for a day) should be marked wild and do not require an “established population” qualifier, even for domestic lineages. For example, long-escaped domestic parrots are maked as wild in the U.S. even in regions where they don’t have (and are unlikely to establish) self-sustaining populations.
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This is all fine, but how do you distinguish between feral cat in human habitation (or close proximity of it) and roaming house cat? I’ve seen undernourished and sadly looking cats which had home and owner and much better looking ferals, because people were feeding them.
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I think it’s just a “best judgment” call. I tend to default to the opinion of the observer, unless there are obvious signs of ownership (e.g., cat wearing a collar), in which case the organism should be marked “not wild”.
I think this also holds true. In my opinion it’s better to err on the side of caution.
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Agree. And vice versa, too - if an observer considers the cat not wild, do not change their decision.
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I’ve had spirited discussions here arguing that if a cat is being fed by humans, it shouldn’t be considered “wild”. Most people here consider feral cats “wild” regardless of whether the population is supported by humans (with vet care, feeding, constructed shelters, and neutering) or not. With most other species, such a level of care would lead the observation to be considered captive/domestic, but apparently not with cats.
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Is a bird feeding from a bird feeder and nesting in a bird house wild? What about literally any Purple Martin? What about a House Mouse or cockroach that relies on the warmth of a house in winter and feeds on scarps left behind by people?
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could you elaborate on this? it seems like they’d be able to survive in a wide variety of climates. i’m curious as to what areas you’re referring to.
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i think it depends on whether there is human intent involved, like if humans are intending to care for these animals and semi-regularly interact with them. that’s how i determine it.
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So you do think the birds are captive then? I doubt most people would see it that way. It’s not really consistent with iNat’s official definition, either.
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In my area, hemiboreal Europe and more northwards feral cats do not form breeding and overwintering populations outside human habitations.
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But they do in areas of human habitation? That just means they do. Just because they’re using anthropogenic habitat doesn’t mean they aren’t wild.
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@tiwane the observer makes a judgement call.
This has been discussed MANY times in the forum.
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For what it’s worth if an outdoor house cat should be considered captive (which makes sense to me), then probably most honey bee observations should be considered captive as well. It doesn’t seem worth it to try to keep up with those though (e.g. all observations where it’s cold enough in the winter that wild hives don’t survive).
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