In a statement sent to Lusa agency, the private conservation association highlights that "according to the Red Book of Mammals, the wild cat is in danger of extinction in Portugal and it is estimated that there are less than 100 adult individuals, and this is the first confirmed record for the Greater Côa Valley, outside the Serra da Malcata, in more than 30 years".

"When I came across the first photo of this cat I almost jumped out of my chair! It is extremely rare to find wild cats in Portugal and, in particular, in the Côa region", says Pedro Ribeiro, a biologist at Rewilding Portugal involved in the discovery and cited in the note of the association.

The wild cat was first recorded using phototrapping. But, as Pedro Ribeiro reports, "it is very difficult to distinguish this species from a domestic cat with a wild phenotype" and, therefore, after consulting experts from the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), a field survey was carried out, where it was possible to find excrement.

The traces were sent for genetic analysis, as part of the collaboration with CIBIO-InBIO/BIOPOLIS of the University of Porto, in which the CONGEN group, coordinated by Paulo Célio Alves, is developing a study on the genetic diversity and degree of hybridization of the wild cat at the Iberian level.

"The analysis of molecular markers of nuclear DNA made it possible to genetically confirm that the animal was in fact a wild cat, the first record in one of our rewilding areas in the Greater Côa Valley", highlights the biologist.

Rewilding reports that it is not uncommon to photograph domestic and wild cats in the field using this type of camera, as these animals can live dozens of kilometres from the nearest human settlements, compete for territory with the native wild cat and hybridize with this species, diluting its wild genetics.