Considered extinct for 90 years, forest wildcat spotted in Belarus
A forest wildcat in Belarus' Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Forest wildcat, the species considered to go extinct in Belarus 90 years ago, was spotted in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
The animal was recorded by a camera in the village of Rozava (Naroula District) on June 22, 2017. The closest inhabited village is 25 kilometres away.
More than a dozen ‘photo traps’ were installed in the Palessie State Radiological Reserve to study wolves in 2016-2017. Despite the low quality of the night photo, the main distinctive marks of this species can be clearly seen: the cat is big, has long hind legs and a massive tail with five black stripes, wildlife.by reports.
The number of forest wildcats decreased dramatically in the 18th and 19th centuries; its natural habitat became fragmented. The cat is considered to be extinct in Belarus. The last forest wildcat was hunted in Barysau District of Minsk Region in 1927. That cat is believed to have accidentally crossed into to Belarus from the south (Ukraine).
Germany did a lot of work to save the forest wildcat at the end of the 20th century. The number of wildcats has been locally increasing since then.
Now, there are forest wildcats in Belarus too!
