Where the wild things are? Spatial and temporal activities of wildcats in central Bulgaria

Populations of European wildcat (Felis sylvestris) in Europe receive strict protection under the EU legislations. The species has been threatened by habitat destruction, traffic collisions, as well as interbreeding with domestic cats (F. catus). Because factors associated with wildcat habitats as well as the degree of domestic cat intrusion differ across regions, region-specific knowledge is necessary for practical conservation actions. In Bulgaria, wildcat populations have gradually declined over the past decades, raising conservation attention and highlighting the urgent need for scientific evidence on the species. To assess the effects of habitat modifications and hybridization with domestic cats on wildcats in Bulgaria, we analyzed wildcat spatial activities using an N-mixture modeling approach and the extents of spatiotemporal overlap between wildcats and domestic cats using camera trapping data. N-mixture modeling with Bayesian inferences demonstrated that wildcats were more frequently observed in sites with increased habitat heterogeneity and a lower proportion of anthropogenic landcovers. Furthermore, both wildcats and domestic cats were nocturnal in the warm season (from May to October) with relatively high temporal overlaps, while they spatiotemporally partitioned in the cold season (from November to April). Our findings indicated that mosaic landscapes with moderate human disturbances such as agroforestry systems, could potentially provide suitable habitats for Bulgarian wildcats, while also accommodating domestic cats. Therefore, balancing habitat conservation and domestic cat control is crucial to maintain a “pure” wildcat population.