New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Feral

A feral organism is one that has escaped from domestication and returned, partly or wholly, to its wild state. Rarely will a local environment perfectly integrate the feral organism into its established ecology. Therefore, feral animals and plants can cause disruption or extinction to some indigenous species, affecting wilderness and other fragile ecosystems.

The goat is one of the oldest domesticated creatures, yet readily goes feral and does quite well on its own.

The dromedary camel, which has been domesticated for well over 3,000 years, will also readily go feral. A substantial population of feral dromedaries, descended from pack animals that escaped in the 19th and early 20th centuries, thrives in the Australian interior today.

The cat returns readily to a feral state if it has not been socialized properly in its young life. (See Feral cats.) These cats, especially if left to proliferate, are frequently considered to be pests in both rural and urban areas, and may be blamed for devastating the bird, reptile and mammal populations, and digging up people's gardens. A local population of feral cats living in an urban area and using a common food source is sometimes called a feral cat colony. As feral cats multiply quickly, it is difficult to control their populations. Animal shelters attempt to adopt out feral cats, especially kittens, but often are overwhelmed with sheer numbers and euthanasia is used. In rural areas, excessive numbers of feral cats are often shot. More recently, the "Trap-Neuter-Return" method has been used in many locations as an alternate means of managing the feral cat population.

Sheep are close contemporaries and cohorts of goats in the history of domestication, but the domestic sheep is quite vulnerable to predation and injury, and thus rarely if ever is seen in a feral state.

Related Stories
 


Plants & Animals News

November 16, 2025

Scientists discovered that a week of full submergence is enough to kill most rice plants, making flooding a far greater threat than previously understood. Intensifying extreme rainfall events may amplify these losses unless vulnerable regions adopt ...
Scientists studying aging found that sensory inputs like touch and smell can cancel out the lifespan-boosting effects of dietary restriction by suppressing the key longevity gene fmo-2. When overactivated, the gene makes worms oddly indifferent to ...
Researchers discovered that living horsetails act like natural distillation towers, producing bizarre oxygen isotope signatures more extreme than anything previously recorded on Earth—sometimes resembling meteorite water. By tracing these isotopic ...
Scientists at EPFL have unraveled the mystery behind why biological nanopores, tiny molecular holes used in both nature and biotechnology, sometimes behave unpredictably. By experimenting with engineered versions of the bacterial pore aerolysin, ...
Scientists have turned to advanced AI to decode the intricate ecosystem of gut bacteria and their chemical signals. Using a Bayesian neural network called VBayesMM, researchers can now identify genuine biological links rather than random ...
A Japanese-led research team has developed AUN, a groundbreaking immune-independent bacterial cancer therapy that uses two harmonized bacteria to destroy tumors even in patients with weakened immune systems. By leveraging the natural synergy between ...
Researchers from the University of Vienna discovered MISO bacteria that use iron minerals to oxidize toxic sulfide, creating energy and producing sulfate. This biological process reshapes how scientists understand global sulfur and iron cycles. By ...
In Death Valley’s relentless heat, Tidestromia oblongifolia doesn’t just survive—it thrives. Michigan State University scientists discovered that the plant can quickly adjust its photosynthetic machinery to endure extreme temperatures that ...
A revolutionary eDNA test detects endangered hammerhead sharks using genetic traces left in seawater, eliminating the need to capture or even see them. This powerful tool could finally uncover where these elusive species still survive, and help ...
Cockroach infestations don’t just bring creepy crawlers, they fill homes with allergens and bacterial toxins that can trigger asthma and allergies. NC State researchers found that larger infestations meant higher toxin levels, especially from ...
Researchers have, for the first time, estimated how quickly E. coli bacteria can spread between people — and one strain moves as fast as swine flu. Using genomic data from the UK and Norway, scientists modeled bacterial transmission rates and ...
When Surtsey erupted from the sea in 1963, it became a living experiment in how life begins anew. Decades later, scientists discovered that the plants colonizing this young island weren’t carried by the wind or floating on ocean currents, but ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET