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The forests of the Jura have once again been the home of European wildcats for several years. But they run the risk of genetic crossbreeding with domestic cats. As a result, they could become irretrievably extinct, as biologists from Geneva and Zurich have shown.
The European wildcat once shared its fate with other wild animals: it was mercilessly hunted and its habitats were destroyed. In this country it was practically extinct. Today the animals roam the Swiss Jura again. But their relatives, domestic cats and wild cats, also roam the forests.
Because cats can mate with each other, there is a risk that the genetic makeup of the domestic cat will replace that of the wild cat. Biologists from the universities of Geneva, Zurich and Oxford have developed a model to predict the future of the wildcat in the hills of the Swiss Jura.
Sterilize domestic cats to avoid crossbreeding
In a previous study, Swiss researchers showed that domestic cat genes are more likely to find their way into the wild cat genome than vice versa. New models now indicate that mixing will eventually lead to the demise of the bobcat within 200 to 300 years. As a result, feral cats could no longer be distinguished from domestic cats, a scenario that has already occurred in Scotland and Hungary.
“Only the end of the cross between the two species predicts the conservation of the bobcat,” said Juan Montoya-Burgos of the University of Geneva and co-author of the study published in the journal Evolutionary Applications.
Therefore, the authors propose to drastically reduce mixing opportunities at the edge of wilderness areas. One of his suggestions is to sterilize domestic cats that live near farms or forests. “If we remain passive, there is a risk that the threat that weighs on the wildcats in the Jura will be irreversible,” said Montoya-Burgos.
