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The European wildcat became probably extinct in the Veneto Region from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The expansion of the wildcat Dinaric -Balkan population in the eastern Italian Alps has been well documented for many decades. In 1983, an adult male was illegally killed in the Cansiglio Forest, thus documenting his return for the first time. This paper is a summary of the knowledge gathered on the species over the last 37 years. To assess the current range of the felid we have used known, unpublished observations and carcasses recovered for accidental or illegal killings. A total of 124 objective findings have been documented, most of them 114 (92%), collected using the camera trapping method. Some surveys in recent years have considerably contributed to increase the knowledge on the species. One of these has demonstrated the presence of a vital population in the Eastern Venetian Prealps, confirmed by two reproductive events. Thanks to the analysis of all the data collected, it has been possible to delineate the current western limit of the European Wildcat distribution range in north-eastern Italy, placing it in the southern part of the province of Belluno.

The sarcoptic mange epizootic affecting chamois in the Dolomites Alps since 1995 has risen considerable concern in a management and conservation perspective, due to its strong impact on chamois and ibex populations. A remarkable amount of data has been collected by different wildlife research and management institutions, in order to analyze mange patterns and develop possible strategies to control the disease. The present study is aimed at providing a population-related figure of the spatial and temporal dynamics of clinical sarcoptic mange in alpine chamois, proposing an approach in which relevant basic concepts and parameters, as the definition of the epidemic front and its spreading speed, can be estimated and framed. The epidemic front was referred to the different mountain massifs, corresponding to well established management units of the chamois in the study area; moreover, the mange-related mortality peak at the massif level was used (in substitution of the index case/s) for temporal analysis of the disease spreading. Two speeds of the front have been estimated: a first raw average speed of about 3.38 km/year, and a second refined speed of 4.64 ± 3.12 km/year, more consistent to the variability in the field. The time series analysis showed that the impact of mange increases over the late winter months, reaching a peak in early spring.Our results strengthen the conclusions of previous studies, proposing a new frame to include other studies in progress on the alpine chamois-Sarcoptes interactions.Download the complete issue.