Scotland's cool for cats

Scottish wildcats are extremely rare, but it's still possible to spot them if you're patient enough, says Graham Holilday

By 1880, the wildcat was extinct in England, Wales and the south of Scotland due to human persecution and habitat destruction. Many wildlife buffs and hillwalkers spend a lifetime wandering the wilder regions of Scotland without ever encountering Scotland's most elusive, shy and
beautiful mammal.

When the common tabby arrived in Britain some 2,000 years ago it promptly bred with the native wildcat population producing fertile hybrid cats. Nowadays, even wildcat experts find difficulty telling the hybrid from the pure bred in the wild.

Wildcats are now confined to the Central and Northern Highlands of the mainland, however the recent planting of conifer forests has helped increase numbers. The species gained protected stautus in 1981 and is recognised as a separate subspecies – Felis silvestris grampia.

However, they are still seen as pests by many landowners, gamekeepers and farmers. They are often slaughtered on sight even though they help control rodent and rabbit populations.

Unlike the domestic cat, the wildcat is a seasonal breeder. Females usually give birth to anything up to six kittens in May and young wildcats stay with their mothers for five months before leaving to fend for themselves.

There are thought to be only a few hundred left in Scotland and they are extremely difficult to breed in captivity, although the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig co-ordinates a major captive breeding programme. Wildcats prefer upland forest, moorland, scrub and hill ground w...

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• By : Graham Holiday
• In : Wildlife
• Issue : 14
• Page : 18
• Words : 819