THE EUROPEAN WILDCAT (Felis silvestris silvestris, SCHREBER, 1777) IN THE VENETO REGION (ITALY)

The European wildcat became probably extinct in the Veneto Region from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The expansion of the wildcat Dinaric -Balkan population in the eastern Italian Alps has been well documented for many decades. In 1983, an adult male was illegally killed in the Cansiglio Forest, thus documenting his return for the first time. This paper is a summary of the knowledge gathered on the species over the last 37 years. To assess the current range of the felid we have used known, unpublished observations and carcasses recovered for accidental or illegal killings. A total of 124 objective findings have been documented, most of them 114 (92%), collected using the camera trapping method. Some surveys in recent years have considerably contributed to increase the knowledge on the species. One of these has demonstrated the presence of a vital population in the Eastern Venetian Prealps, confirmed by two reproductive events. Thanks to the analysis of all the data collected, it has been possible to delineate the current western limit of the European Wildcat distribution range in north-eastern Italy, placing it in the southern part of the province of Belluno.