Feral Cats Members at Night

MDC Fan Question: Is it true Disneyland has feral cats?

The answer is ..Yes! There is an estimated of 200 feral cats living at Disneyland. Disney employed these feral cats way back in 1955, while doing renovation of the Sleeping Beauty castle, Disney employees found 100 cats living in the unused portion, and instead of getting rid of them, they decided to make them employees to help keep the rodents out.

“We are not trying to get rid of them,” said Gina Mayberry, manager of Disneyland’s Circle D ranch, where the park’s animals are housed. “They keep the rodent population down.”

The animal care staff at the park took it upon themselves to initiate what they call Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), with the help of local organization including Best Friends Catnippers and FixNation, Disneyland developed a protocol for the humane care of the resort’s cats.

“What we do is trap the cats, get them spayed or neutered and make sure they get a wellness check and release them back into the population,” says Mayberry. Although Disneyland doesn’t monitor the total number of cats, she says the program has been quite successful at adopting out kittens and “maintaining a balance” between cat population and the Disneyland environment.

Feral cat living at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail at Disney California Adventure

After the cats are neutered and returned to the park grounds, they receive continuing managed care including regular shots, a place to stay, and good food.

During the day, the cats reside in five permanent feeding stations hidden amongst the two parks, one is said to be on the lower deck of the Hungry Bear restaurant.

At night, they prowl around and stalk the rodents.

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