Abstract In the last decades, large carnivores – the grey wolf (Canis lupus), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) and brown bear (Ursus arctos), and to a certain extent also the wildcat (Felis silvestris) – have increased their distribution ranges throughout Europe. Monitoring of their current distribution and population trends in the Czech Republic is crucial for the effective conservation and elimination of possible conflicts with humans in the future. In the last years, many projects focused on small-scale monitoring of large carnivores were implemented in the Czech Republic and the neighbouring mountain ranges of Slovakia. Using their results, we compiled the dataset from different regions and analysed the recent distribution of large carnivores and the wildcat. The distribution maps are based on verified data on the presence and reproduction in 2012–2016. This is consistent with the standardized methodology used across Europe. The Eurasian lynx was the most widespread of all large carnivore species in the Czech Republic, with the two trans-boundary populations (Carpathian and Bohemian-Bavarian-Austrian) occupying 94 out of 868 squares (10.8%) of the mapping grid of the Czech Republic. Reproduction was confirmed in 46.8% of the occupied squares. The grey wolf occupied 6.8% of the squares in the Czech Republic and its reproduction was confirmed in 10.2% of the occupied squares. Three reproducing packs belonging to the Central European lowland population were confirmed and the area occupied by the species increased three times within the study period. The brown bear occupied 2.8% of the squares of the Czech Republic – the area is restricted to the Carpathians – with no signs of reproduction; its distribution fluctuated heavily during the study period. The wildcat occupied the smallest range of the Czech Republic among the studied species (1.4% of the squares) but its reproduction was confirmed in a trans-boundary area (White Carpathians) at the Slovakian side of the border. The wildcat also significantly increased its range from one to six squares during the study period.

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Dispersal is a key process for the maintenance of intraspecific genetic diversity by ensuring gene flow within and between populations. Despite the ongoing expansion of large carnivores in Europe, lynx populations remain fragmented, isolated, and threatened by inbreeding and loss of genetic diversity. In the course of large carnivore monitoring in the Czech Republic, several biological samples of Eurasian lynx were collected outside the permanent occurrence of this species. Using microsatellite genotyping we identified these as four dispersing lynx males and applied multiple methods (Bayesian clustering in STRU CTU RE, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), frequency-based method in GENECLASS2, and machine-learning framework in assignPOP) to assign them to possible source populations. For this we used genotypes from five European lynx populations: the Bohemian-Bavarian-Austrian (N = 36), Carpathian (N = 43), Scandinavian (N = 20), Baltic (N = 15), and Harz (N = 23) population. All four dispersers were successfully assigned to different source populations within Europe and each was recorded at a distance of more than 98 km from the edge of the distribution of the source population identified. Such movements are among the longest described for lynx in Central Europe to this point. The findings indicate the ability of lynx males to disperse in human-dominated landscape thus facilitation of these movements via creation and/or protection of potential migratory corridors together with protection of dispersing individuals should be of high importance in conservation of this iconic predator in Central Europe.

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In total, 616 reliable records (C1, C2 category sensu SCALP) of wildcat occurrence in Bohemia were collected and analysed in 11 monitoring seasons, “wildcat years” (WCY), 2010–2021. Camera-trapping data accounted for 95% of the dataset, the rest of the records were verified by the genetic analysis of several hair samples, scats, and tissue samples. The occurrence of the European wildcat was confirmed in eight sub-areas, more continuously in the forested border areas of southern and western Bohemia, and more sparsely in central and northern Bohemia. In total, the wildcat occurred at 73 different sites, in 35 mapping squares: four confirmed as category C1, 31 as category C2. The current occurrence in the western part of the Czech Republic is linked to that in neighbouring Germany. The development of modern non-invasive monitoring methods was crucial for the increase in detection of wildcat presence. However, both reintroduction and population increase in Bavaria and climactic change can also play a role as drivers of the recent spreading of the wildcat to our territory. Reproduction was confirmed in two sub-areas (Český les Mts., WCY 2021; Doupovské hory Mts., WCY 2020) and represents the first documented reproduction of the wildcat in Bohemia since the WWII. In some large areas such as the Šumava Mts., we observed a rather wider spatial activity, smaller numbers of individuals and more transient character of occurrence than in other (more restricted) areas, such as the Doupovské hory Mts., where we found higher population density and permanent occurrence with reproduction. Species-specific systematic camera-trapping and genetic monitoring in all areas with confirmed occurrence is highly recommended for the future.