The European wildcat is a wild cat associated mainly with European forests. Rodents, especially voles, are common prey.
In winter, its coat is thick and long, grey-brown with black stripes on the head, neck and limbs and a dark line along the back. The blunt, bushy tail has black rings.
Near lakes in northern Greece, researchers fitted five European wildcats (two males and three females) with GPS collars and tracked their locations from autumn to early summer. Motion sensors provided activity data for four cats. The animals used lowland fields, woodland patches, riverside forests and wetlands. Estimated home ranges were 0.94–3.08 km² for females and 1.22–4.43 km² for males.
Males were mostly active at night and around dawn or dusk, while female activity sometimes shifted to daytime with the season. Activity did not clearly differ between open and forested places. Resting sites included small woods and hedges. The records show wildcats using a lowland mosaic of farmland and natural cover.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Around lakes in northern Greece, European Wildcats used lowlands with fields, wetlands, riverside forests and woodland patches. Local plans can include small woods and hedges that connect these habitats with farmland.