Animals – Freiburg im Breisgau – “Truffle trees” planted for the wild cat on nine areas – Society

Freiburg (dpa / lsw) – The European wildcat, which once disappeared from the southwest, should, according to the request of experts, settle permanently in Baden-Württemberg again. In a pilot project funded by the state in the districts of Lörrach, Emmendingen and Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, which has now been completed, special trees and accompanying shrubs have been planted on nine areas. The trees have been inoculated with what experts call the fungus, so that the truffles grow on the roots in the ground.

The idea behind it: property owners plant trees on their land that offer protection to the wild cats on their migrations and thus improve their living conditions. In return, the owner can harvest valuable truffles from his land. The state financed half of the trees.

The project ran for two years, as Sabrina Streif from the Forestry Experimental and Research Institute Baden-Württemberg in Freiburg said. Three other areas were planted with orchards and hedges. “There was great interest. There are many people who own land and want to use it for animals.” In total, landowners reported 97 areas, 42 were appraised. A year ago, dpa reported that the truffle plants are intended to attract wild cats – but that is not the case.

It will be some time before it can be seen whether the wild cats will also approve of the new structures created by the “truffle trees” and bushes and whether the population of the animals may increase as a result. According to Streif, it takes several years for the trees to mature. According to the biologist Streif, there are currently several hundred wild cats living in the southwest. There are around 5000 across Germany.

Since 1912 the wildcat was considered to be extinct in Baden-Württemberg. It was detected again for the first time in 2006 and 2007 and has been sighted more and more frequently since then. According to the research institution, its main residence in the southwest is the Rhine plain, from where it spreads towards the Black Forest and Swabian Alb. The predator is strictly protected. It is on the Red List of Endangered Species across Germany. Intensive agriculture and forestry with monocultures make it difficult to survive, according to the information.

In the pilot project, the experts from Freiburg wanted to find out how a subsidy for property owners can work and how it is accepted. In order to do justice to the wildcat, however, one must not only redesign isolated, smaller areas in a way that is suitable for wildcats, but also create and maintain a “wild animal corridor”, said Streif. This means that the predators can move safely and securely on their migrations even over long distances – and they do not suddenly end up on a road or in a dense settlement area. This would require the coordination of several districts.

Unlike the wolf, which livestock farmers fear above all, there is hardly any political resistance to the reintroduction of the wildcat, said Streif. “The wild cat eats mice and hardly any birds. Even ornithologists are kind to them.” It is simply a matter of contributing to biodiversity, allowing the predators to return to the south-west permanently.

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