Status of the polecat Mustela putorius (Linnaeus,1758) in France and management implications

Abstract

Status del turón Mustela putorius (Linnaeus, 1758) en Francia e implicaciones para su gestión Mustela putorius (Linnaeus, 1758) ipurtatsaren estatusa Frantzian eta kudeaketarekin lotutako inplikazioak ABSTRACTThe polecat Mustela putorius Linnaeus, 1758 is an elusive species whose lifestyle is relatively unknown. In France, the species might be legally hunted. Knowledge of the distribution of the species on the national scale is a necessary prerequisite for the implementation of appropriated management and conservation measures. The National Wildlife and Hunting Agency (ONCFS) has developed a method for collecting data at the national scale so that to create presence maps of small and medium-sized carnivores. The presence map of the polecat is presented in this note, based on data collected from 2001 to 2010. The map shows that the species is fairly well distributed throughout the country with the exception of some regions that deserve further study. According to current knowledge, the factors threatening the polecat in France are above all the deep modifications of the preferential habitats of the polecat, particularly the important decrease of wetlands and hedged farmland; the increase of the road network and the poor state of rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) populations, an important food resource notably in the Mediterranean regions. The importance of secondary rodenticide poisoning needs to be evaluated. We postulated that trapping is not nowadays a major threat to the species in France. Management and conservation measures of its habitat through the implementation of public policies could favor its maintenance.KEY WORDS: Conservation, Distribution, European polecat, France, Threats. RESUMENEl turón Mustela putorius Linnaeus, 1758 es una especie huidiza de costumbres poco conocidas. Su caza en Francia podriar estar permitida. Conocer la distribución del Turón en territorio nacional es indispensable para tomar medidas de gestión y de conservación apropiadas a su estatus. La Oficina Nacional de Caza y Fauna Salvaje (ONCFS) ha desarrollado un método de recogida de datos a escala nacional con el fin de realizar mapas de presencia de pequeños y medianos carnívoros. En este artículo, se muestra el mapa de presencia del Turón obtenido a partir de los datos recogidos del año 2001 al 2010. Éste, indica que la especie está bien distribuida en el territorio a excepción de algunas regiones que merecerían un más estudios. Basándonos en los conocimientos actuales, los factores que amenazan al Turón en Francia son sobre todo las enormes modificaciones de su hábitat, particularmente una disminución importante de los humedales y de las zonas boscosas; el aumento de la red de carreteras y el mal estado de ciertas poblaciones de conejos Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758), importante fuente alimenticia, especialmente en las regiones mediterráneas. La gestión y la conservación del hábitat del Turón a través de la realización de políticas públicas serían unas medidas que podrían favorecer el mantenimiento de es...

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“…The polecat's population dynamics in Europe remain largely unknown. Demographic analyses of local populations come from a variety of sources, such as records of road casualties and sightings (Melero et al 2012;Berzins and Ruette 2014;Croose 2016), winter tracking (Sidorovich et al 2008) and national hunting records (Baghli and Verhagen 2003). However, in general, the existing knowledge is mostly based on sparse data, and recent reviews may have been misleading due to being based on unreliable information (Hofmeester et al 2019).…”

“…As polecat populations are subject to a variety of positive and negative factors, some opposing trends probably occur locally, making large-scale analyses of population dynamics difficult. Consequently, most recent national reports on the polecat's status recommend the deployment of new studies to reveal population trends in more detail (Berzins and Ruette 2014;Costa et al 2014). The UK's recent national survey contrasts with the general declining trend as it revealed an increase and geographical expansion of the polecat in the last decades (Sainsbury et al 2019); however, it should be pointed out that British population is recovering in its former range.…”

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