- A genet was observed last February in the Calanques National Park in Marseille.
- Naturalists rejoice because these observations are rather rare. The genet is rather in decline in France.
It all started from a pile of droppings. Last February, a team of botanists from the Calanques National Park in Marseille spots excrement that does not look like that of the foxes, which are numerous in the Park. "As they are seasoned naturalists, they understood that it was a crottier, a place where genets make their needs," says Fabien Revest, environmental inspector at the Park.
He then decides to go there, during the night, to try to observe this animal. A rather rare and especially very discreet creature, which moves skillfully in the trees and leaves only after sunset, to hunt rodents and small birds. "The first night paid off," smiles Fabien Revest. It is a species that has a very developed sense of smell and that flees when it spots you, but with a night camera, we managed to observe the animal. And even to film it, for around twenty seconds.
This video delights Jean-Yves Bichaton, departmental head of the Biodiversity Office. "This is good news because it is a species that is rather in decline in France," he notes. Many genets are killed every year on the roads of the PACA region. The agents of the Office of biodiversity (ex-Office of hunting and wild fauna) occasionally observe genets, notably in the Camargue. "But it remains a very discreet animal," recalls Jean-Yves Bichaton. This gives even more value to the video captured by the agents of the Calanques National Park…
The exact location kept secret
There are just under 10,000 genets in France. This species, imported from Africa by the Romans, who used genets as pets, has been protected since the 1970s. National Park officials also refuse to indicate the exact location of their observation, to avoid the genette is not poached - or disturbed. They will soon return on the spot in search of other crotters ... and therefore other genets which would prowl in the creeks.
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