Efforts to save the Scottish wildcat from extinction have taken a major step forwards after the first cat was introduced to the Saving Wildcats conservation breeding for release centre at the Highland Wildlife Park. The project has also been boosted by a £9000 donation raised by a local fundraiser who rescued a potential hybrid wildcat kitten near Grantown on Spey.
Nell, a young female, arrived from Alladale Wilderness Reserve and has settled well into the off-show centre, which provides breeding space, veterinary care, remote monitoring and training to prepare cats for life in the wild.
It is hoped that any kittens Nell rears will be among the first cats released into the Scottish Highlands next year as part of the Saving Wildcats project to restore the critically endangered species in Scotland.
David Barclay, Saving Wildcats ex-situ conservation manager, said, “Saving Wildcats is an incredibly exciting partnership bringing together the necessary resources and expertise to save Scotland’s iconic wildcat.
“Nell is the first cat to be introduced into our breeding for release centre at Highland Wildlife Park and she has settled well into her new surroundings.
“A further 15 cats will be arriving at the centre in the coming weeks, giving us a healthy, genetically diverse population to breed from. Offspring will then be transferred to larger pre-release enclosures as they mature where they will undergo a dedicated training programme to prepare them for life in the wild. We hope the first cats will be ready to be introduced into a site in the Scottish Highlands in 2022.”
Peter MacNab, who discovered a tiny kitten with his friend Piotr Peretko, north of Grantown in January, set up a community fundraising page to support the conservation project after the cat, which he named Huntleigh, sadly passed away.
David Barclay said, “We are really grateful for this amazing community support and Peter’s incredible fundraising efforts which will help secure a future for Scotland’s wildcats. Together we can restore this iconic species by bringing together national and international expertise to breed and release wildcats into the wild.
“Our Highland tigers are on the brink of extinction and interbreeding with domestic cats, known as hybridisation, is a major threat to their survival.”
“After genetic testing, we established Huntleigh had around 30% wildcat DNA. These results have been added to the national database, meaning this little kitten has helped supported wildcat conservation in Scotland.”
The public in the Badenoch and Strathspey area are also being asked to keep their eyes out for the rare wild-living cats. Anyone who thinks they spot a wildcat in this area can send an image with more information of the sighting image to wildcats@rzss.org.uk. Anyone outwith this area can track their sighting on the Mammal Tracker app which contributes to a national database.