The government is funding an investigation into the population of the Cretan wildcat – a species native to the island which is threatened with extinction. The project is being initiated by the Natural Environment & Climate Change Agency (NECCA) of the ministry of the Environment and Energy.
A tender has just been issued for a proposal to estimate the population of Cretan wildcats, to identify their habitat in the mountains of Crete and to discover any measures already in place for their protection. The budget for the project is €82,000 and a contractor is expected to be announced within the next month.
The Cretan wildcat is a distinct species which combines the characteristics of the European and African wildcats. The general director of NECCA, Giannis Mitsopoulos, told Haniotika Nea that the contractor will be required to estimate the populations of the species in Crete, to find out where they live and to put forward proposals for their preservation. He noted that the contractor could be a university institution, a research body or a company. “We hope to have found a contractor and for the work to be completed by the end of 2023. It’s a subject of interest both to Crete and to ourselves,” he said.
Specification for the research
The research will include the following:
– Collection of all the existing knowledge about the Cretan population of the species from all the available sources, such as published reports, unpublished data, data from museum collections and generally from whatever sources prove accessible.
– The available data on the species are to be recorded in a geographical GIS file, which will include information about the source. Every source will be assessed for reliability, with a note as to whether the siting may be of a hybrid, and its exact geographical location.
– The contractor will have to provide a résumé of existing knowledge which will include all the significant known data about the Cretan population of the species (e.g. classification status, morphological knowledge, biology, habitat, dispersion, etc)
Camera traps
To locate populations of wildcats, camera traps are to be placed in mountainous areas, to the following specification:
– Fieldwork is to be based on the use of at least 60 camera traps.
– The camera traps will be moved to different positions every 15 days, with the data being collected at the same intervals.
– The exact choice of positions will be determined by the researchers with regard to the suitability of the habitat, on the basis of previous experience.
– The contractor must plan for at least six 15-day periods and 2,700 trapping days, while they will sample at least two habitats of the species per mountain range (Lefka Ori, Psiloritis, Dikti).
– The contractor will conduct statistical analyses of the data collected in order to produce the final results.
More specifically, they will use Species Distribution Modelling to produce maps of potential distribution. They will also use a suitable model to estimate the total size of the population. The deliverables will include potential distribution maps (in the form of vector files) showing the likelihood of the species appearing at different points on the island.
Specimen caught in 2017
In October 2017 what was thought to be a Cretan wildcat was caught on the Omalos Plateau, bearing all the relevant external markings. The animal had been caught in a trap set by a farmer for animals which were attacking his sheep. Specimens of genetic material were taken, the animal was examined by a vet and after some days it was released on the Lefka Ori range by personnel of the management body for the Samaria National Park. A video of the incident can be seen here.
It should be noted that the Cretan wildcat is an animal which lives in a wild state, as against the “fourogatos” a hybrid animal resulting from the crossing of wildcats with domestic cats. Media references to the species are inclined to confuse the two.
Genetic characteristics and history
Background information about the wildcat provided by NECCA for the tender includes the following:
The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris), which is found in forested areas and mainly in Greece, has the following characteristics:
– longer legs and a larger, broader skull,
– a relatively shorter tail with long hairs and a rounded tip, by comparison with the domestic cat.
– The colour of its coat is characterised by dark stripes along the length of the body and black rings on its tail.
– According to data collected so far, the length of the body from nose to tail root is 50-80 cm with another 25-35 cm for the tail, and its weight varies between 3 and 10 kg.
This wildcat can be crossed with domestic cats.
There is also the African wildcat (Felis lybica, formerly Felis sylvestris lybica), which is found on the open plains of Africa. It is bigger and heavier than today’s domestic pets, with which it can easily be crossed. Its coat has narrow, dark stripes, lengthwise on the head and spine and vertical on the sides. Its average body length is around 70 cm and the tail about 40 cm, while its average weight is 3.5 kg.
The Cretan wildcat is a distinct species (Felis silvestris cretensis) which has characteristics from both of the main wildcat species. It was first spotted by a French naturalist on a visit to Crete in 1845, while a German publication noted its presence on Lefka Ori in the 1960s. There have been further sightings since then, with several specimens seen on the Lasithi Plateau, the Samaria National Park and Mount Psiloritis. The most recent sighting, from camera traps in the Samaria National Park, dates from 2021.
According to the Red Book of threatened species in Greece, the Cretan wildcat requires special attention because of its geographical isolation in a small section of the island and the problem of hybridisation with domestic cats.