About Community Cat Atlas
Documenting the Path from Conflict to Coexistence
Community Cat Atlas is a documentary, research, and observatory initiative dedicated to understanding the relationship between community cats, wildlife, human communities, and the environments they share.
Through photography, field observation, data analysis, research, and storytelling, Community Cat Atlas seeks to document how free-roaming cats, wildlife, and people coexist in a changing world.
The Atlas was founded on a simple belief:
Understanding coexistence begins with documentation.
Across neighborhoods, industrial sites, parks, commercial districts, transportation corridors, and rural communities, community cats live alongside people and wildlife every day. Despite decades of discussion surrounding community cats, surprisingly few long-term efforts have sought to systematically document how these relationships change over time.
Community Cat Atlas exists to help fill that gap.
Why the Atlas Exists
Community cats often exist at the intersection of compassion, conservation, public policy, community responsibility, and environmental change.
Some people view community cats as vulnerable animals deserving care and protection.
Others focus on concerns involving wildlife, conservation, public health, or the ecological effects of free-roaming animals.
Community Cat Atlas was not created to advocate for one side of these discussions.
It was created to document them.
By combining historical records, observatory monitoring, photography, documentary storytelling, and long-term research, the Atlas seeks to improve understanding through evidence, observation, and transparency.
The goal is not to begin with answers.
The goal is to begin with questions.
What We Do
Community Cat Atlas operates through four interconnected pillars.
Documentation
Creating long-term records through photography, field observations, archive development, and data collection.
Research
Analyzing historical and contemporary information to better understand population dynamics, human influences, and coexistence challenges.
Observatory Science
Monitoring community cats, wildlife, and human environments through long-term observation and photographic records.
Storytelling
Using photography, film, writing, and documentary media to communicate findings and preserve stories that might otherwise be lost.
The Atlas Today
Community Cat Atlas began with historical community cat colony records from Mohave County, Arizona.
Today, the Atlas includes:
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127 documented colonies
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25 communities
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More than 1,500 documented cats
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More than 122,000 photographs
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Observatory monitoring programs
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Original research publications
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International photographic observations
The Atlas continues to grow as a long-term archive documenting the changing relationship between cats, wildlife, and human communities.
About the Founder
Community Cat Atlas was founded by Charles Black, a researcher, photographer, documentary storyteller, and nonprofit executive based in Kingman, Arizona.
For more than two decades, Charles has worked in leadership, disaster response, animal welfare, research, and mission-driven organizations. His work has included rebuilding organizations, leading large-scale operations, developing research programs, and creating systems that transform information into actionable knowledge.
The idea for Community Cat Atlas emerged from years of working with community cat populations and recognizing a fundamental challenge:
Many people have strong opinions about community cats, but relatively few long-term efforts exist to systematically document what is actually happening on the ground.
What began as an effort to preserve historical colony records evolved into a broader mission to document the relationships among community cats, wildlife, people, and the landscapes they share.
Today, Charles serves as Founder and Lead Researcher of Community Cat Atlas.
Looking Forward
Community Cat Atlas is building a long-term record.
Future priorities include:
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Expansion of observatory monitoring
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Annual Atlas reporting
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Development of wildlife interaction studies
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Expansion of photography and documentary projects
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Advanced data analytics and mapping
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Growth of the Community Cat Atlas Research Series
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Production of the feature documentary Conflict to Coexistence
Every photograph, field observation, research report, and story contributes to a larger goal:
Creating a better understanding of how cats, wildlife, and people share the same world.