The accidental ‘insurance policy’ 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 David Barclay of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland on Open Country.
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
How to identify a Scottish Wildcat
Dr Andrew KItchener, National Museum of Scotland
Full programmes on BBC Radio Scotland
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Open Country: Wild Cats in the Highlands
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.
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Brainwaves: The Scottish Wildcat
Pennie Latin goes on the hunt for and explores efforts to save the Scottish Wildcat.
The secretive Scottish wildcat
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Night shots capture Scottish wildcat
Night cameras have captured footage of Scottish wildcats in Aberdeenshire.
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Camera trap photographs Scottish wildcat in Cairngorms
A rare Scottish wildcat has been photographed on a camera trap rigged up by a wildlife cameraman.
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Feral cats neutered to protect rare Scottish wildcats
About 80 feral cats have been neutered across Scotland as part of a project to prevent them breeding with wildcats.
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Scottish wildcat conservation warning
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.
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