What Exactly Does “Feral” Mean?

The term “feral” carries a certain ambiguity, encapsulating creatures that inhabit the wild but share a lineage with domesticated stock. Kayce Bell, the assistant curator of mammalogy at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, emphasizes that the only factor distinguishing feral animals from their wild counterparts is their history of domestication, often involving generations of selective breeding and human care.

Domestic cats offer a good example of the complexities surrounding feral animals. Feral cats, born in the wild and adept at outdoor living, contrast with stray cats, once under human care and unaccustomed to the wild. The American Society for the Protection of Animals advocates trapping, neutering, and releasing free-roaming cats to control their populations and mitigate the estimated one to four billion bird deaths annually in the U.S. caused by outdoor cats.

Cities worldwide witness flocks of pigeons, descendants of domesticated rock doves. Escaping or being released, these birds found urban landscapes reminiscent of the cliff faces that mirrored their wild ancestors’ habitats. Despite being considered a nuisance due to property damage and disease transmission concerns, pigeons contribute to the ecosystem as prey for the peregrine falcon. Similarly, various species of feral parrots and parakeets have established populations in the U.S., particularly in California.

Florida hosts a plethora of invasive species, including Burmese pythons in the Everglades. These pythons, descendants of escaped or released pets, are not considered feral. Jacquelyn Guzy, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, explains that a species can be both feral and invasive, citing feral pigs as an example. The distinction lies in the process of domestication, a result of human-driven artificial selection over generations.

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