Let the cat keep chasing the mouse

Ecological modellers create a scientific basis for a nationwide network of corridors to conserve the European wildcat

This release is available in German.

Corridors for the European wildcat. Plans for a nationwide net of migration corridors in Germany. Click here for more information.

Leipzig. For the first time an international researcher team has developed a model, which identifies potential habitats and corridors for the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris). Using Rheinland-Pfalz as an example, it was demonstrated that almost half of this German federal state could be suitable for wildcats, enabling a maximum population of 1600 females. The model can also be adapted for other regions and could therefore prove to be of significant value in protecting this highly endangered species, researchers write in the scientific journal Biological Conservation. The research forms the scientific basis for a network of forest corridors that BUND, the League for the Environment and Nature Conservation Germany (the German Branch of Friends of the Earth), intends to establish over the following years with the help of the German States. According to estimates there are currently between 3000 and 5000 wildcats scattered throughout Germany. The nationwide corridors are an attempt to reconnect isolated populations once again and therefore open up new areas for the wildcat in the East of Germany. In Switzerland too, data on populations of wildcats is being collected and modelled, in order to be able to protect this species better in the future.

Comeback of a native