What the shepherds said

Before it was a scientific discovery, the cat-fox was a story.

In the Corsican language, it is called u ghjattu volpe, literally the cat-fox. The name comes from its silhouette: a body and tail so long they evoke a fox more than a cat.

Shepherds had spoken of it for generations, and what they said was not flattering. They claimed these forest cats would attack the udders of their ewes and goats at night in high-altitude sheepfolds.

It was based on these accounts, passed down from generation to generation, that we began our research.

These are the words of Carlu-Antone Cecchini, a forest cat project manager at the National Office for Hunting and Wildlife, now integrated into the French Office for Biodiversity.

Remember this sentence well. It is not a metaphor: scientific research on the ghjattu volpe started with Corsican oral tradition. Researchers took what the shepherds were saying seriously, and they went to see for themselves.

2008, a henhouse in Olcani

The scientific story begins with a chance encounter.

In 2008, in Olcani, a small village in Cap Corse, a wild-type cat was accidentally caught in a henhouse.

The animal did not match anything known. Too big for a feral domestic cat, different from the mainland forest cat, and also different from what is found in Sardinia.

From that point on, a long-term project began: camera traps, hair traps, temporary captures with tracking collars, and genetic sampling. The Asco valley in Upper Corsica became the main field site.

Fifteen years of fieldwork in mid-mountain forests for a nocturnal animal that no one ever encounters.

March 16, 2023: what genetics established

On March 16, 2023, the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) published its conclusions. They are based on a study published on January 19, 2023, in the journal Molecular Ecology, conducted by the OFB and the Laboratory of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology at the CNRS and Claude Bernard University Lyon 1.

The result can be summarized in one statement: the analyses demonstrate a specific genetic lineage of wild cat in Corsica.

In practical terms, the analysis allows for the clear separation of Corsican wild cat samples from four other groups:

• Mainland forest cats.
• Mainland domestic cats.
• Corsican domestic cats.
• Sardinian cats, despite being the closest geographically.

This last point is worth noting. Sardinia is twelve kilometers away. Yet the ghjattu volpe is distinct from them. It is Corsican, and nothing else.

The OFB concludes that the identification of a specific genetic entity among felids is remarkable and essential for the implementation of appropriate conservation measures.

What it really looks like

Forget the image of a big alley cat. The ghjattu volpe has a look all its own.

• Size: approximately 90 cm from nose to tail tip. That is considerable for a European wild feline.
• Tail: very thick, featuring two to four rings, and always ending in a distinct black band.
• Ears: very wide pinnae, much more developed than those of a domestic cat.
• Canines: very developed. It is a predator, not an opportunist.
• Hind legs: the tarsi are always very black. This is one of the most reliable criteria.
• Belly: a characteristic rust-red shade.
• Front legs: marked with clear stripes.
• Coat: remarkable density, which naturally protects it from fleas, lice, and ticks.
• Whiskers: short.

It is this combination, rather than any single criterion, that allows it to be distinguished from a feral domestic cat.

Species or subspecies? The question remains open

We must be precise here, because many articles wrote "new species" a bit too quickly.

What genetics has demonstrated is the existence of a distinct genetic lineage. This is already significant, and it is what forms the basis for protection measures.

Whether it should be classified as a distinct species or as a subspecies of wild cat is a taxonomic debate that has not been settled. The scientists themselves present it as an open question.

This does not diminish the case. It simply requires speaking correctly: the ghjattu volpe is a wild cat native to Corsica, genetically identifiable, and its exact classification is still being determined.

Where it lives, and why no one sees it

Its known territory is located in the mid-mountain forests of Upper Corsica, with the Asco valley as the heart of the sightings, in an environment of mixed forests, dense maquis (scrubland), and challenging terrain.

It shares these massifs with the Corsican mouflon, whose population clusters occupy the same sectors.

Why is it never seen? Because it has everything required to remain invisible.

• It is nocturnal.
• It lives in areas with dense forest cover, far from roads.
• It systematically avoids humans.
• It is extremely rare.

Even the researchers themselves, who have been tracking it for fifteen years with camera traps, obtain few images. A hiker has virtually no chance of crossing paths with one.

How many are left?

This is the question everyone asks, and the honest answer is: we don't know exactly.

What is documented is the fieldwork. In the Asco valley, the ONCFS teams identified sixteen individuals and captured twelve of them, including only one female.

No overall, validated estimate for the entire island has been made public. Be wary of the round numbers that circulate: they are based on nothing solid.

What can be said with certainty is that the population is very small, very localized, and that wild felids are among the most threatened groups. This is precisely why genetic identification matters: you can only properly protect what you have first learned to name.

Why this story matters

There is something in this case that goes far beyond zoology.

For decades, what the Corsican shepherds said was treated as folklore. A bedtime story, a creature of legend, the kind of thing one listens to with a smile.

Then researchers decided to start from these accounts rather than dismissing them. They set traps where the oral tradition said they should be set. And fifteen years later, genetics confirmed that the shepherds were describing a real animal, one that exists nowhere else.

The knowledge of the local people was not a legend. It was an observation, transmitted orally for lack of being written.

It is a lesson that is worth far more than just a cat. An island that has seen its language threatened and its knowledge relegated to the rank of local curiosities can legitimately derive a sense of satisfaction from this.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Corsican cat-fox really exist?

Yes. On March 16, 2023, the French Office for Biodiversity announced that genetic analyses demonstrated the existence of a specific lineage of wild cat in Corsica, distinct from mainland forest cats, domestic cats, and Sardinian cats.

How do you say cat-fox in Corsican?

U ghjattu volpe, literally the cat-fox. The name comes from the length of its body and tail, which evoke a fox more than a cat.

Is it a new species?

It is a distinct genetic lineage, which is established. Whether it is a species in its own right or a subspecies of wild cat remains an open question for taxonomists.

Where does the cat-fox live in Corsica?

In the mid-mountain forests of Upper Corsica, with the Asco valley constituting the primary sector for observation and study.

How many cat-foxes are left?

No overall validated estimate is public. In the Asco valley, sixteen individuals were identified and twelve captured, including only one female. The population is very small and very localized.

How do you distinguish a cat-fox from an ordinary wild cat?

Approximately 90 cm from nose to tail, very large ears, developed canines, very black hind tarsi, rust-red belly, thick tail with two to four rings ending in a black band, and a coat of remarkable density.

Is it dangerous?

Not to humans, whom it systematically avoids. However, shepherd accounts speak of nocturnal attacks on the udders of ewes and goats, and it was these testimonies that put scientists on its trail.

Can you see one while hiking?

Practically not. It is nocturnal, lives under dense forest cover, avoids humans, and remains very rare. Even the researchers themselves obtain few images despite years of camera trapping.

What we take away from this

At TAFANELLI, we design what makes up the memory of the island. We look for subjects that resist the postcard image, and this one is perhaps the most beautiful we have encountered.

An animal that no one sees. A name that only the people from here used. A story treated as a fable for decades, which turned out to be accurate.

There is everything here we believe in: that what is transmitted orally is worth as much as what is written, that local knowledge is not folklore, and that sometimes it takes fifteen years of patience to prove what a shepherd already knew.

The ghjattu volpe will never pose for anyone. It will continue to roam the forests of Asco at night, without anyone knowing.

It is probably better that way.

In passing through Corsica, the customer becomes a friend.

A DOPU, TAFA