binnenwerk 48-2-2005 - De Zoogdiervereniging

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could not find a territory to occupy there andwhen moving north between the rivers Maas andRhine may have found the river Waal in its way.On 20 March 2002 the website www.biostationeuskirchen.dementioned a big increase ofthe wildcat in the Eifel hills that had increasedfrom 300 specimens in 1990 to 1000 in 2000. On26 January 2005 the same website mentioned theoccurrence of 200-250 wildcats in the Nord-Eifel, the part of the Eifel that lies within Nordrhein-Westfalen.According to Vogt (1985) andVogt & Grünwald (1990) the population size inRheinland-Pfalz (the German state that coversthe most of the Eifel hills) did not change in the1970s and 1980s. Consequently increases in thewildcat population may be a relatively recentphenomenon that could have started as late as the1990s.Although wildcats are sporadically observedin the less wooded area just north of the Eifel, itseems that even five kilometres of open agriculturalland presents a large obstacle for the wildcat(M. Trinzen, personal communication). Thismakes the possibility of the wildcat originatingin the Eifel hills seem less probable. However, inview of the number of woods between the Germanborder of the provinces of Limburg and theRhine this possibility cannot be excluded.The occurrence of a wildcat at Vaalsbroek canbe explained in a similar way. The woods in theneighbourhood of Vaalsbroek and Vaals, such asthe Vijlenerbosch and the Malensbosch (togethercirca 800 ha), are more or less directly connectedto the large complex of woods south of Aachen,consisting of the Aachener Wald and the Preusswaldin Belgium (together circa 3000 ha). Thiscomplex of woods can be considered as anextension of the woods of the Eifel hills and theArdennes. It would relatively easy for a wildcatto move from its habitat in the Eifel to the northwestthrough these inter-connecting woods.Raimer (1994) and Hemmer (1999) show thatthe wildcat does occur south of Aachen. Thiswould lend credence to the reported observationsby Leo Backbier in the surroundings of Vaals(see above).Possible explanations for the recent recordsThe two recent records of the wildcat in thesoutheast of the Netherlands after a period ofmany centuries without confirmed records requireexplanations. Although we can not fullyexplain these phenomena, and cannot entirelyexclude coincidence, we do believe that there arefeasible explanations.At the outset we should state that there are noindications that the two observations were theresult of increased activity by observers. Thecurrent probability of observation probabilitydoes not seem to be any higher than in the 1970sand 1980s. Rather, we propose the followingplausible explanations for these sightings.1. More and better habitat. More natural successionin nature areas, especially woods, offersmore cover and a more diverse structure. Sincethe first National Nature Policy Document(1990), the area of nature areas in the Netherlandshas grown. Hundreds of hectares of naturalhabitat have been created over the last decade inthe nature development area of Gelderse Poorteast of Nijmegen. This may have played a role inthe case of the wildcat of Groenlanden. This areawas formerly open agricultural land, of no interestto the wildcat; Stahl & Leger (1992) emphasisethe importance of extensive continuouswood complexes for the wildcat in the northeastof France.2. Changing management. There has been ageneral hunting ban in many nature reserves inthe Netherlands, a specific hunting ban for thewildcat in Germany (1934) and Belgium (1973)and a general decrease of illegal hunting, trappingand killing in all three countries. In 1996 thewildcat had been added to the list of protectedanimal species of the Decree on Protected AnimalSpecies under the Nature Conservation Actof 1967, superseded in 2002 by the new Floraand Fauna Act.3. Increasing mutual tolerance between manand wild animals. There has been a change ofhuman attitudes to wild animals, which are notconsidered to be as dangerous or threatening asbefore, and often even arouse positive interest82 Canters et al. / Lutra 2005 48 (2): 67-90
(e.g. the beech marten (Martes foina), thatchanged its ‘hostile’ niche of farms in the 1980sinto more ‘hospitable’ ‘green city quarters’).This change might have been noticed by the animalsthemselves, leading to the animals feelingthe need to maintain less distance from humans,and other behavioural changes such as a greateracceptance of the presence of domestic animals,noise, and human disturbance.4. Overflow from adjacent areas. Hemmer(1999) mentions that existence of healthy populationsof wildcat in Europe for example, in Germanywhere there has been a growth in the wildcatpopulation of the Eifel population (seepreceding paragraph).5. Endogenous causes. Parent (1975) describesthe colonisation of the Ardennes and the BelgianLorraine by wildcats from France and Germanyafter World War II. There seem to be phases, incycles of about ten years, when the populationexpands. Although such an interpretation ishighly speculative, there may also be internal,autonomous causes.Consequences for managementAssuming that the records published in this articleare not mere coincidence – and even if theywere, a coincidental occurrence of the wildcatshould have consequences for management practices– and taking into account that the wildcat isprotected in the Netherlands, nature managementorganisations have a new, strictly protected,species to deal with. The hunting communityalso has a problem, since the wildcat is coveredby section a, which protects “all mammals naturallyoccurring in the Netherlands” (Paragraph 1,article 4 of the Flora and Fauna Act (Anonymous2001)). Paragraph 1 deals with all protected indigenousanimal species. Furthermore the wildcathas a (strictly) protected status under the followinginternational conventions and treaties:1. The Bern Convention (Convention on theConservation of European Wildlife and NaturalHabitats) – Annex II, which deals withstrictly protected fauna species, specificallyincludes the wildcat.2. The Habitats Directive (Council Directive92/43/EEG on the conservation of naturalhabitats and of wild fauna and flora) – AnnexIV, that includes the wildcat, deals with ‘Animaland plant species of community interestin need of strict protection’.3. The CITES Convention (the Convention onInternational Trade in Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora) – Appendix II, that includesthe wildcat, deals with very vulnerablespecies, which are subject to generally strictrules on trade.The Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature,and Food Quality wrote a letter to the RoyalNetherlands Shooting Association (KNJV) on 3December 2003 (Reg.no.: DN.2003/3730) statingthat it is not forbidden to trap and kill feraldomestic cats, provided that it is done with a reasonablepurpose (see also: Anonymous 2002).The Minister stated that in the context of theFlora and Fauna Act, he considers control anddamage prevention to be reasonable goals. However,as has been demonstrated above, it is ratherdifficult to distinguish wildcats from tabbycoloureddomestic cats in the field (e.g: Klinkhamer1974; see also: de Nie 1988, Artois et al.2002). To prevent the shooting of wildcats,whether by mistake or not all relevant partiesshould be informed about the possible occurrenceof wildcats. These relevant parties, whomshould be made aware of and take into accountthe possible presence of wildcats, are primarilysite managers, including Game ManagementUnits and individual hunters. Others who shouldbe included on this list include the authorities involvedin the inspection of hunting: theProvinces, the Fauna Fund and the General InspectionService of the Ministry of Agriculture,Nature, and Food Quality. The explanatoryannex of the ‘Decree of Designated AnimalSpecies under Article 67 of the Flora andFauna Act’ dealing with pest animal species,as published by the Province of Limburg (see:www.limburg.nl/upload/pdf/Faunabeheerplan_besluit_aanwijzing_exart67_florafaunawet.pdf;viewed 20 December 2005), highlights the sporadicoccurrence of wildcats in the NetherlandsCanters et al. / Lutra 2005 48 (2): 67-90 83
Page 6 and 7: Bennet & van Olivier (1822) wrote (
Page 8 and 9: ecorded evidence we cannot confirm
Page 10 and 11: lack rings; the muzzle has a light
Page 12 and 13: Photograph 6. Tail of the wildcat (
Page 14 and 15: light coloured; the muzzle was whit
Page 18 and 19: and mentions that it is difficult t
Page 20 and 21: Bree, P.J.H. van 1959. De kat uit H
Page 22 and 23: turschutz in Bayern, München, Germ
Page 24: ing in 2004: wilde katten, bastaard

binnenwerk 48-2-2005 - De Zoogdiervereniging

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