Relationships Between European Wildcats and Domestic Cats in an Area of Sympatry: Exploring Key Conservation Questions on Hybridization and Disease Transmission

Abstract

Domestic animals living in the wild pose a serious threat to wildlife, with anthropogenic hybridization and disease transmission being two of the primary concerns. However, the behavioral and ecological mechanisms behind these risks remain poorly understood, especially for rare and elusive taxa. The European wildcat has been the target of a number of studies focused on both hybridization with domestic cats and opportunistic disease surveys, but little attention has been paid to determining the ultimate mechanisms that govern the relationships between these two cat species. Through a seven-year (2017–2024) field study based on telemetry, camera trapping, and direct observation, we investigated the spatial relationships between wildcats and domestic cats and the prevalence of shared pathogens within a Mediterranean area of sympatry in southeastern Spain. We found evidence of behavioral barriers for both hybridization and disease transmission between European wildcats and domestic cats. This includes hierarchical interspecies exclusion enforced by wildcats, as well as sexual selection exerted by wildcat females. Our results have important implications for the conservation strategies of the European wildcat, and our methodological protocol could guide further etho-ecological investigations on this and other rare and/or elusive taxa.