Insights into the breeding ecology of wild-living European wildcats in the Cantabrian Mountains, Spain

Gathering knowledge on the breeding ecology of species in wild-living conditions is critical to set baselines from which to analyse population trends and design appropriate conservation actions. This is particularly challenging when studying elusive animals like carnivores, as breeding events are difficult to detect and monitor. Based on direct sightings of wildcats, we provide the first scientific information on the breeding ecology in wild conditions of European wildcats as well as hunting success and provisioning rates of female wildcats. Mean litter size at weaning was two with most observations occurring between July and September. Auxiliary dens were mostly located inside thick vegetation in the proximities of pastoral fields, although anthropogenic constructions were occasionally used. Two cases of different female wildcats rearing their respective litters closer than 500 m were recorded. Hunting success of breeding females (66%) was higher than that of non-breeding females (33%) and males (40%). Breeding females provided around 80% of the captured prey to their kittens. In conclusion, direct observations of wild-living wildcats in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain) allowed us to find that anthropogenic mosaic-structured landscapes combining open pastoral fields providing prey, and areas with thick vegetation such as shrub and forest patches providing shelter, encompass conditions required by the wildcats to successfully breed in human-dominated environments.