大象传媒 Scotland - 大象传媒 Scotland - The accidental 鈥榠nsurance policy鈥� that might just save the endangered Scottish wildcat from extinction

The accidental 鈥榠nsurance policy鈥� that might just save the endangered Scottish wildcat from extinction

22 January 2018

There are thought to be fewer than 300 Scottish wildcats left in the wild because cross-breeding with domestic and feral cats has drastically reduced their numbers.

Conservation efforts aiming to stamp out cross-breeding are underway but there is also an “insurance policy” in place, in the form of captive breeding.

“Regardless of what we do in the wild for wildcats, there are just not enough of them to conserve,” explains .

This means that releasing wildcats from captive populations into the wild has becomes a viable option.

Wildcats were first brought into captivity forty years ago. And this, according to David, was a stroke of luck.

“We didn’t do it because we were looking forward into the future,” he says. “We were doing it so people could learn about them and get close to a very elusive, iconic species.”

But this act may have inadvertently become the key to saving the Scottish wildcat.

How to identify a Scottish Wildcat

Dr Andrew KItchener, National Museum of Scotland

The Scottish wildcat is Britain's last native cat species and it is now rarer than the tiger with less than 400 left in the wild. David Lindo visits Strathpeffer to find out more.
Pennie Latin goes on the hunt for and explores efforts to save the Scottish Wildcat.

Night cameras have captured footage of Scottish wildcats in Aberdeenshire.
A rare Scottish wildcat has been photographed on a camera trap rigged up by a wildlife cameraman.
About 80 feral cats have been neutered across Scotland as part of a project to prevent them breeding with wildcats.
There has been a warning that last ditch efforts to save the Scottish wildcat from extinction are at risk, because of conflict between rival conservation groups.