Wildcat population density in NE Portugal: A regional stronghold for a nationally threatened felid

Abstract

Population density data on depleted and endangered wildlife species are essential to assure their effective management and, ultimately, conservation. The European wildcat is an elusive and threatened species inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula, with fragmented populations and living in low densities. We fitted spatial capture–recapture models on camera‐trap data, to provide the first estimate of wildcat density for Portugal and assess the most influential drivers determining it. The study was implemented in Montesinho Natural Park (NE Portugal), where we identified nine individuals, over a total effort of 3,477 trap‐nights. The mean density estimate was 0.032 ± 0.012 wildcat/km2, and density tended to increase with distance to humanized areas, often linked to lower human disturbance and domestic cat presence, with forest and herbaceous vegetation cover and with European rabbit abundance. Although, this density estimate is within the range of values estimated for protected areas elsewhere in the Iberian Peninsula, our estimates are low at the European level. When put in context, our results highlight that European wildcats may be living in low population densities across the Iberian Mediterranean biogeographic region. No phenotypic domestic or hybrid cats were detected, suggesting potentially low admixture rates between the two species, although genetic sampling would be required to corroborate this assertion. We provide evidence that Montesinho Natural Park may be a suitable area to host a healthy wildcat population, and thus be an important protected area in this species' conservation context.

The effects of wild ungulates on small mammals: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Due to their importance along the trophic chain, small mammals are frequently used as an important variable to understand the abundance variation of larger species that depend on them (e.g. Carnivora; Matias et al 2021). Carnivores, for example, have larger home ranges and lower densities, which hampers the assessment of the main ecological processes that affect their presence and abundance (Baíllo & Chacón 2021).…”

Applications of non-intrusive methods to study the sand cat: a field study in the Sahara Desert

“…3) in relation to the dissipation of the urine. The use of blind camera locations (i.e., without any lure) probably would result in lower sand cat capture rates (see, e.g., the case of European wildcats in Gil-Sánchez et al 2015 and cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus in Brassine and Parker 2015), particularly within a habitat where there are no evident wildlife paths (Matias et al 2021). Therefore, the detection of sand cats would be an extremely rare event without attractants.…”

“…However, a potential limitation to replicate our protocol by other researchers could be the use of Iberian lynx urine, which may be challenging to obtain. In the case of the European wildcat, the use of valerian extract and domestic cat urine (easier to obtain) has offered optimal results in density surveys (Matias et al 2021). Further studies are needed to evaluate the efficiency of different attractants for sand cats that can be easily obtained by any researcher (see Ahmed et al 2016 andAl Zaabi et al 2019, who used canned fish and cat food as lures for sand cats).…”

Genetic integrity of European wildcats: Variation across biomes mandates geographically tailored conservation strategies

“…However, our results refute this reasoning for the Mediterranean biome. We propose several potential factors that could have acted in isolation or synergistically to drive this observed pattern: i) low population densities and historical reductions of wildcats typically found in this biome (Gil-Sánchez et al, 2020;Matias et al, 2021) likely led to high permeability to domestic cats and consequent widespread introgression even in more remote areas (Oliveira et al, 2018); ii) higher prey abundance at the interface of agricultural fields and natural habitats (Delibes-Mateos et al, 2009;Jareño et al, 2015), exhibiting higher carrying capacity for wildcats than prey-poor remote areas; iii) high levels of landscape anthropogenisation in the Mediterranean region such that few remote areas remain (or were not sufficiently sampled) that are capable of hosting healthy wildcat populations; iv) the common presence of isolated country houses far from human settlements in the remaining remote and unpopulated areas (e.g., Sierra Morena and Toledo Mts., in Spain), where game or livestock keepers inhabit, usually intermittently, and where semi-feral domestic cats are kept for rodent control; and v) classification bias whereby collectors might be more confident that samples, either phenotypic or noninvasive, collected in more remote habitats belong to wildcats, while tending to be more conservative in assessing samples from less likely habitats, such as areas close to human settlements. Such biases could lead to our database including a higher number of hybrid cat samples from areas assumed to be used exclusively by wildcats (i.e., distant from human settlements; Kilshaw et al, 2016).…”

“…Such biases could lead to our database including a higher number of hybrid cat samples from areas assumed to be used exclusively by wildcats (i.e., distant from human settlements; Kilshaw et al, 2016). Regardless, the observed scenario across the Mediterranean biome reflects remnants of disturbed demographic histories (Lozano et al, 2007;Gil-Sánchez et al, 2020;Gerngross et al, submitted;Matias et al, 2021), leading to the hybridisation of parts of former wildcat-occupied areas by domestic cats (e.g., Sarmento et al, 2009), and where differences between geographically isolated subregions (e.g., basal levels of genetic integrity) may play a role in the introgression process.…”