Wildcats in the Thayatal National Park: Research and celebrations for the anniversary!

Wildcats in the Thayatal National Park: Research and celebrations for the anniversary!

Nationalpark Thayatal, Österreich - On April 2, 2025, there was a major event in the National Park House in Hardegg: LH deputy Stephan Pernkopf announced the start of a new wildwood release project. This initiative falls into the anniversary year of the Thayatal National Park, which has been looking back on a 25-year success story for nature conservation and regional development since its foundation in 2000. The park attracts between 80,000 and 100,000 visitors annually, of which around 35,000 visit the national park.

The popularity of the national park is also evident in the number of overnight stays. Last year, 5,000 overnight stays were recorded in the wildcat camp, while 6,000 pre -registrations have already been received for this year. In addition, the overnight number in Hardegg enjoys a pleasant quadruple and now exceed 10,000 overnight stays.

wild cat research in focus

The discovery of the wildcat, which was long considered extinct, took place in 2007. National park director Christian Übl presented impressive results of this research: a total of 25 genetic and 23 photo detections of wild cats were collected in the national park. New genetic analyzes show a relationship between wild cats in the Thayatal and those in the Wachau, which underlines the importance of the national park as a habitat.

The current telemetry project is supplemented by the targeted tracking of two boulders from France, which were equipped with channels. These transmitters should provide data about hiking behavior and the use of the wild cats for a year. While female animals need a territory of 300 to 500 hectares, the radius of movement of the male wild cats extends to 1,200 to 2,000 hectares.

cooperation and preservation of biodiversity

The Thayatal National Park has set itself the goal of securing wild cat population through research activities. As part of a broader analysis, forest corridors are to be examined in order to show connections to other forest areas and wild cat populations in Bavaria and Slovakia. According to np-thayatal.at show the results that the wild cats prefer to use these corridors.

In addition, attracting analyzes are carried out to achieve better results in wild cat research. In this context, valerian has become more important as a preferred attractant, with other fragrances being tested. A focus is also on the analysis of narrow spots and gaps that could hinder the hike of the animals. On November 14th and 15th, the third Austrian wildlife conference will take place in the Thayatal National Park to plan activities to secure this domestic wildcat population.

Austria houses a total of six national parks that are internationally recognized as important protected areas. The Thayatal National Park protects one of the most species -rich valley landscapes in Europe and is in line with the overarching goals of the national parks, nature conservation and species. These areas also serve as recreation, education and research areas. The Thayatal National Park thus plays a central role in the preservation of biological diversity and in the protection of the European wild cat, which was even voted animal of the year in 2019.

The continuing efforts to survive the wildcat are part of a wide range of initiatives that aim to preserve the natural heritage of Austria and at the same time promote gentle tourism that is economically strengthened. According to nationalparksaustria.at , national parks in Austria have the order to maintain landscapes of wild beauty and biodiversity and to serve as research and learning places.