Wildcat (Felis silvestris Schreber, 1777) in Ukraine: modern state of the populations and eastwards expansion of the species (original) (raw)

Modern state of the wildcat populations in Ukraine is analyzed on the basis of detailed review and analysis of its records above (annotations) and before (detailed cadastre) 2000. Data on 71 modern records in 10 administrative regions of Ukraine are summarized, including: Lviv (8), Volyn (1), Ivano-Frankivsk (2), Chernivtsi (31), Khmelnyts kyi (4), Vinnytsia (14), Odesa (4), Mykolaiv (4), Kirovohrad (2) and Cherkasy (1) regions. Detailed maps of species distribution in some regions, and in Ukraine in gene ral, and the analysis of the rates of expansion as well as direction of change in species limits of the distribution are presented. Morphological characteristics of the samples from the territory of Ukraine are described.