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Saving Wildcats


Wildcats are clinging on by a claw and Scotland is their last refuge from extinction in Britain. Saving Wildcats is a European partnership project dedicated to Scottish wildcat conservation and recovery. Our aim is to prevent the extinction of wildcats in Scotland by breeding and releasing them into the wild.


At the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Highland Wildlife Park in the Cairngorms National Park, Britain's first large-scale dedicated conservation breeding for release centre for wildcats has been built. The centre brings together wildcat experts, a dedicated veterinary unit and a specialised pre-release programme to help develop the natural behaviours needed for a challenging life in the wild.





The captive breeding for release centre


The first breeding season last year exceeded all expectations. Six couples gave birth to 22 kittens offering a great base for the years ahead.



These kittens are now nearly a year old and have been moved to their pre-release enclosures which are larger with natural areas which offer space away from human disturbances. It is important to note that it is illegal to feed live prey to the wildcats. Instead, the keepers have developed specific tools (e.g. automated feeders, lures etc.) that will help promote and expand key behaviours, as well as physical and mental fitness. The team can monitor their progress remotely using our sophisticated CCTV system.



The second year of breeding for release has started well. The male wildcats have been reunited with the females and the keeper team are hearing a lot of calling. We hope for successful births in the next few months.



The Field Team


The Saving Wildcats field team make up a significant part of the Saving Wildcats project, and they focus on the Cairngorms Connect release site. The field team run camera trap surveys throughout the year with more than 90 cameras across the release site and further afield. Last year they analysed over 700,000 images to monitor wildlife trends, prey numbers, and the presence of any wild-living domestic cats.


One of the greatest threats facing wildcats is interbreeding with domestic cats (also known as hybridisation). Hybridisation leads to a dilution of the genetic pool. From extensive surveys of potential release sites using camera traps and local on-the-ground communications very few feral domestic cats have been found living in the area. This is most likely due to extensive long-term trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) work being carried out by the Strathspey Cats Protection branch. Because of this the risk of our released wildcats should be relatively low.


The field team are continuing this important TNVR work in areas surrounding the release site to further reduce the risk and improve domestic feral cat welfare.


Recently the field team have undertaken TNVR within one of the more populated areas of the Highlands after reports of feral cats. Areas with dense residential populations are always trickier as the likelihood of encountering pet cats is higher. The field team regularly go door-to-door giving out leaflets to ensure no pet cats are accidentally trapped during this work. The field team also work closely with the local veterinary practices to ensure cat owners are aware of the importance of neutering and microchipping their cats.


Recent TNVR work took the field team to Aviemore Holiday Park where a 5-year-old male nicknamed Bullseye and 2-year-old female nicknamed Biscuit are living. Both were given full health checks, neutered, fully vaccinated, and given spot-on treatment for parasites. This vital work both protects Scotland’s wildcats and improves feral cat welfare by reducing unwanted feral kitten numbers and disease transmission.


BULLSEYE AND BISCUIT


Engaging with our neighbours in the community is an integral aspect of the project. We regularly meet with landowners, estate gamekeepers, farmers, and domestic cat owners alongside key organisations such as Cats Protection, to ensure we have an open and transparent working relationship.


Case study: Craig, the hybrid feral cat


The field team first saw photos of a feral domestic cat nicknamed Craig on trail cameras in the release site in 2020, at the beginning of the Saving Wildcats project. He was a large male with hybrid markings. Using the pelage marking scoring system experts have carefully designed he scores 15 due to having spotty flanks, pointed tail shape and indistinctive bands on this tail. The threshold to be classed a wildcat is 17, so Craig is a hybrid.


Each of the cameras are baited with a dried valerian root pouch lure. Craig loved the valerian! He would spend many minutes rolling around like a kitten again on the pouch. As he was a young male, he was wandering at least 10km-squared and managed to get photographed on nine different trail cameras, giving us over 1,700 images, during his instinctive roaming for mates and food. The field team identified him for TNVR and after five nights of trying they were successful and transferred Craig to the dedicated veterinary facility at the Highland Wildlife Park. He was 6kg of lean muscle and in good condition. After neutering Craig, he was fully vaccinated and given a 1cm ear tip as is best-practice of neutered feral cats. A few hours later he had recovered well, and the field team were able to release him to where he was found with a bowl of food left for him to find later. Weeks later the field team would still get lots of photos of Craig on the trail cameras as he finds the valerian bliss state! It is good to know that his welfare has improved through this work, and he will not be a hybridisation threat to the wildcat kittens that are released.


CRAIG


The Releases


Saving Wildcats is aiming to release 20 cats per year from 2023-2026. However, of course, the restoration of wildcats in Scotland will require long-term work across decades.


The kittens will all be fitted with UHF-GPS collars, which will allow the Saving Wildcats team to track their movement via satellite. This will allow the team to learn how they use the landscape and where they establish a territory. It’s not unusual for a male wildcat to move up to 6 miles/10km per night so we will have to be on our toes when tracking them at the beginning!


Keep Updated


If you are interested in updates, subscribe to the Saving Wildcats mailing list by clicking this link or visit savingwildcats.org.uk

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