A slender mustelid of freshwater margins and forest edges.
Dark guard hairs cover pale underfur. A dark mask around the eyes is bordered by white facial fur.
If rabbits decline, polecats might switch prey. A British comparison of stomach contents from 99 polecats collected in 2012–2016 found lagomorphs in 66% of identifiable prey records, close to 69% in the 1990s. In autumn they appeared least often, and diet breadth was widest. Older records show a broader diet when myxomatosis reduced rabbits in the 1950s. Recent rabbit declines are uneven, so rabbits may remain available where polecats were sampled. Many carcasses were roadkill, limiting local representation.
A separate British study found rodenticide residues in 54 of 68 polecat livers collected in 2013–2016. Rodents were under 10% of stomach records in the diet study: a small part of the menu can still carry a hidden food-web risk. Flexibility and exposure can coexist.
IUCN Red List · Least Concern (LC) · Global (Mustela putorius, species-level)
The IUCN global assessment lists the European polecat (Mustela putorius) as Least Concern (LC), with a decreasing trend. It was assessed on 5 March 2016 and published that year; confidence is low because precise recent trend data are sparse across much of its range. The assessment identifies wetland and hedgerow loss, agrochemicals and introduced carnivores as concerns. A separate 2018 IUCN-criteria review for Britain classified Great Britain, England and Wales as LC, but Scotland as Endangered (EN). It reported British range expansion, while warning that ferret–polecat hybrids make some counts uncertain. These are regional categories, not the global assessment. Priorities include retaining wetlands and hedgerows, monitoring local populations and tracking rodenticide exposure.