A new comeback in the Brabant animal world is possible. After the wolf’s return, the European wild cat now seems to be getting closer. A real ‘green carpet’ for the animal has even been rolled out towards our provincial borders. In Limburg she is already proudly walking over it, but in Brabant she has not been showing herself for ten years.
The European Wilde Kat, not to be confused with the wild domestic cats that roam around, was last spotted on Brabant land in 2015, and on the Strabrechtse Heide.
The wild cat is a bit bigger and firmer than the house cat. The animal usually has a color pattern that makes it not standing out in the area. The wild cat is stubborn and does its own thing, just like the house cat.
Forester Erik Schram has not seen De Wilde Kat since the last time, ten years ago, in his area. That extends from De Groote Heide to the Strabrechtse Heide. “But several projects have been set up,” he knows.
A little further, in the forests of Limburg, the wild cat already occurs. The animal was seen there for the first time in 2002. In the meantime, according to nature organization Ark Rewilding Nederland, a few dozen are living.
“For example, various plants with berries have been planted.”
In the years that followed, the nature organization tried to make Brabant and Limburg nature reserves as attractive as possible. Where the house cat likes giving heads, the wild cat is shy. Bare forests and forest edges are therefore supplemented with deciduous trees and bushes so that the animals can hide.
Several natural makers have been created on Brabant land. These are pieces of land where washes such as grains, arable flowers and herbs are planned, but are not harvested. Everything to put on the wild cat.
“Plants with berries have been planted,” says forester Erik. “They also put on rodents. These are then food for the cat again.”
Although that is not the only species that will attract nature organizations. Other species also benefit from that ‘green carpet’, such as marten, bats and other small mammals.
It seems a matter of time until the wild cat comes back to Brabant land. According to Ark, the return of this species in Limburg shows that the restoration of nature and connecting habitats works.
