First record of a presumed wild common genet (Genetta genetta) in Switzerland

Abstract

The common genet (Genetta genetta) is the only Viverridae in Europe. For centuries, this secretive carnivore was largely confined to the Iberian Peninsula and to areas south of the Loire and west of the Rhone rivers in France. During the last decades, however, the common genet expanded its area of permanent presence beyond these historical geographic barriers. It has settled in new territories much further to the north and to the east, notably in Provence, and in the departments of Rhone and Ain. Genets have started to be sighted in north-western Italy as well. We report here two observations of this species recorded in June 2019 by a camera trap set along the Rhone River in a small forest of the municipality of Bernex, near Geneva. This is the first evidence of a presumed wild common genet living in Switzerland, suggesting an ongoing geographical expansion of the species already documented in the adjacent French departments of Haute-Savoie and Ain.