Polecat LBAP

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	WELCOME TO CHESHIRE BIODIVERSITY PART OF THE CHESHIRE REGION BIODIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

POLECAT (MUSTELA PUTORIUS)
LOCAL BIODIVERSITY ACTION PLAN

Links to associated HAPs

None

Current Status

The polecat is a species "of some conservation significance" (Birks 1997). Historically, it has experienced conflict with poultry and game keeping bodies since the Middle Ages, but now enjoys legal protection from killing and trapping under Schedule 6 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).

The polecat is a native British mammal, the species found in Britain being the European or Western polecat. Despite it's name, the polecat is a member of the weasel family, the Mustelidae. Up to the middle of the last century they were reported as common and widespread throughout the British mainland. The advent of game shooting and its management led to a sharp decline in the status of the polecat, reducing its population to a small isolated area of Mid Wales. Due to a decline in trapping during the 20th century, the polecat population in Britain has increased. It has become more common in Wales and now populates every Welsh county, apart from Anglesey, and is starting to recolonise border counties, including the Cheshire region where it has not lived since the 1890s. The Cheshire Wildlife Trust have been closely monitoring the population.

Threats

Polecat-ferret hybridisation.
Road traffic accidents.
Loss of habitat.
Intensification of agriculture.
Illegal poisoning, gassing and trapping.
Secondary rodenticide poisoning.
Lack of awareness of the public and landowners.
Lack of awareness of the interaction between a polecat and its habitat.

How are we helping to conserve Polecats in the Cheshire region?

Currently carrying out survey of farmers in Cheshire to glean further information on status of polecats in Cheshire.
Production of interprative leaflet for the Cheshire area on the polecat
Monitoring and data collation
Further survey work on population status and habitat usage

Objectives, Targets and Actions

OBJECTIVES	LOCAL TARGETS
To encourage the natural recolonisation of the polecat in the Cheshire region and to monitor and conserve existing population numbers towards a sustainable population.	Targets awaited
ACTIONS REQUIRED
Highlight polecat's preferred geographical areas. Survey suitable areas to further the knowledge of the polecat's interaction with its habitat. Monitor the behaviour of mammals within polecat-occupied habitat. Use of GIS modelling systems to interpret recorded data Further survey via live-trapping

Progress so far

1997-2006 Action Completed

Winter 2002 radio tracking project of polecats in their natural habitat
Soft release programme in alliance with relevant agencies
Live trapping of polecats in the field as part of monitoring

How to find out more about Polecats

Results of the last Mammal Society Polecat survey - www.abdn.ac.uk/mammal/polecat_survey.shtml
Vincent Wildlife Trust - www.vwt.org.uk
BBC Wildfacts website - www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/274.shtml
CWT 2006 Polecat report
CWT article ' The return of the Bandit'

How can you get involved?

Join Cheshire Mammal Group. More information can be found at http://www.consult-eco.ndirect.co.uk/lrc/mamg.htm

If you see a polecat please fill in the CWT online polecat reporting form at www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/cheshire/proj_polecat_sighting.htm

Contact details

LBAP Chair

Sue Tatman, Cheshire Wildlife Trust
Phone: 01948 820728

References & Glossary

Birks, J. (1997): Mammal Society Conference Talk, St Andrews, (draft copy).
Birks, J. (1993): The Return of the Polecat, British Wildlife.
Birks, J. (1996): The Rise of the Polecat, Natural World.