Its bad reputation precedes it. Accused of smelling foul, of “screaming loudly,” and, more recently, of embodying sexism through the cartoon character Pepe Le Pew, the polecat isn’t exactly nature’s darling. But this small, elusive mustelid remains largely unknown to both the public and scientists. That’s the observation made by researcher Sébastien Devillard and his team, who received the Barbault and Weber “Involved Ecology” grant in 2021 to change that.
“The polecat is difficult to observe and study because it’s a cryptic and nocturnal animal,” explains Devillard. “It lives at low population densities, and males and females only meet during the breeding season.”
What we do know is limited. As an adult, the European polecat weighs between 600 grams and 1.5 kilograms, eats a mostly carnivorous omnivore diet, and inhabits open or wooded areas—often near wetlands. But there’s a growing concern: “Over the last 30 or 40 years, the wetlands and riparian forests it relies on have been steadily deteriorating. That has likely had—and continues to have—a negative impact on its population,” Devillard warns.
Despite this, the species is not currently classified as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Why? Not because the polecat is doing well, but because there’s a lack of solid data. “When the IUCN doesn’t have accurate population numbers, it uses the species’ geographic range as a proxy,” Devillard explains. “And since polecats are still present across a stable area in Europe, they haven’t been listed as at risk.”
But local data tells a different story. Camera traps, roadkill reports, and field observations show a steady decline in polecat sightings—especially in wetlands—over the past two decades. To push for a reassessment of the species’ conservation status, researchers need a much clearer picture of its numbers, behavior, and habitat use.
That’s where Devillard’s team comes in. At the Pierre Vérots Foundation estate in the Ain region of France, they plan to fit three polecats with miniature GPS collars—something that’s never been done before. “For years, GPS collars were too big. They needed large batteries and could only be used on larger mammals—foxes, badgers, deer, even elephants,” he explains. “In wildlife research, we follow a strict rule: tracking devices must not exceed 3 to 5% of the animal’s body weight.”
Now, with battery technology shrinking, tracking smaller animals like the polecat has become possible. Once the collars are in place, researchers will head into the field weekly to download data—offering unprecedented insight into the polecat’s movements and space use.
It’s a breakthrough. Until now, scientists relied on VHF radio collars, which required manually triangulating the animal’s position several times a week—yielding only a handful of location points. With GPS tracking, the team will be able to monitor polecat activity throughout the day, providing a far richer dataset.
And this is just the beginning. “If we can show that this works, we’ll expand the study and track more animals,” says Devillard. The ultimate goal: gather enough data to estimate survival rates, model local population dynamics, and better understand habitat dependencies. At the same time, a network of camera traps will be deployed to estimate population density.
Armed with this information, scientists hope to make a strong case for re-evaluating the polecat’s conservation status—and perhaps help society take a fresh look at this small, secretive creature, whose role in our ecosystems may be far more important than we realise.