Our 2014-2015 national polecat survey has now finished and we are no longer collecting polecat records or carcasses. If you have a polecat record, please submit it to your local Biological Records Centre or county mammal recorder.

Vincent Wildlife Trust’s national polecat survey ran from 2014-2015 and aimed to gather up-to-date information on the current distribution of the polecat.

The polecat population is recovering following a dramatic decline during the 19th century. VWT has monitored the polecat’s recovery and range expansion through a series of national distribution surveys, the most recent of which was carried out during 2014 and 2015.

We are grateful to everyone who has submitted polecat records and/or carcasses to us.

Carcasses collected are currently being analysed as part of a PhD research project, investigating potential threats to polecat recovery.

This research was published in 2020 and can be downloaded here

Photo: Polecat @Jane Parsons