Learn to tell it apart
Thick tail, black rings, blunt tip. Knowing it is the first step to protecting it.
See the differencesCorno de Bico Protected Landscape · Paredes de Coura
The wildcat of Corno de Bico.
BRAVO looks for the European wildcat in the hills of Paredes de Coura, in northern Portugal: where it lives, whether its lineage remains pure and what threatens it. And it invites the people who live here to help.
- Species
- Felis silvestris Schreber, 1777
- Status in Portugal
- Endangered (EN)
- Protection
- Habitats Directive, Annex IV
- Pilot study
- 12 months, 2026-2027
Recognise
It looks like a cat.
It is no ordinary cat.
The wildcat is the only wild feline in northern Portugal. From a distance it passes for a striped house cat, but the tail gives it away.
- Blunt, black tail tip that does not taper.
- Distinct black tail rings that do not merge.
- Black dorsal stripe that stops at the base of the tail and does not run along it.
- Four thick, wavy stripes on the nape.
- Two thick stripes on the shoulder.
- Unbroken stripes on the flanks, with few or no breaks.
- No spots on the flanks or hindquarters.
Coat criteria from Kitchener et al. (2005), Animal Conservation 8: 223-237, used by the Saving Wildcats programme in Scotland.
Wildcat Felis silvestris
- Thick, rounded black tip
- Distinct, separate black rings
- Dorsal stripe stops at the tail base
- Unbroken stripes, no spots
Striped house cat Felis catus
- Thin, tapering tail
- Rings and patterns very variable
- Dorsal stripe may run along the tail
- Broken stripes or spots; white patches common
Only genetics can confirm it. Some hybrids look like wildcats, so the team checks every photo you send and, where possible, matches it with hair samples.
How you can help
Three things anyone
in Coura can do.
Look after your own cat
A neutered, vaccinated and microchipped cat does not breed with wildcats or pass diseases on to them.
Read moreTell us what you saw
A sighting, a photo, a road-killed animal. Every record helps us map the species in the region.
Report nowHow we work
Science without
touching the animal.
Camera traps and valerian-scented hair stakes record wildcats as they pass. The hair left on the velcro gives us DNA, with no capture or handling.
How we protect animal welfare30stations, each with a camera and a hair stake
8months of continuous fieldwork
0wildcats captured or handled
3campaigns with schools, parishes and local events
News
Field diary
What we are doing in the field, in the lab and with the community.
All news
