The fourth breeding season is about to get underway at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotlandīs Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig near Aviemore. Eight cats have been paired up, carefully selected to maximise DNA diversity. The kittens will be reared in a special enclosure, isolated from public viewing so that they donīt become accustomed to humans and then, about a year later, released into the wild.
Scottish wildcats are a separate species from domestic cats and related to European wildcats which are found across Europe with the largest populations in Spain and Portugal. They live in forests, hunting within the forests and along the edges.
So far, a total of 28 fully grown kittens (= cats) have been released into the Cairngorms Connect area in the Cairngorms National Park. One cat has died from an infection, but the others are doing well. It is hoped to reach a target of releasing 20 cats every year. The Cairngorms Connect area is 600 square kilometres, large enough to support many wildcats. Ultimately, the reintroduction will have to spread to other areas of the Highlands.
Captive breeding and release have become essential to the species survival. Back in 2018, analysis of DNA from samples taken from the wild concluded that the species was functionally extinct in the wild. All the samples tested showed evidence of hybridisation with domestic cats. Fortunately, the DNA samples from captive animals showed much "purer" DNA, and this is the basis for the release programme.
However, despite the encouraging news above, it is difficult to feel optimistic about the future of wildcats in Scotland. Given that all the animals in the wild are deemed to be hybridised, will the animals in captivity provide a suitably diverse gene pool for the future, or will other wildcats from Europe be needed to supplement the gene pool? Even more important, are we going to be able to stop future hybridisation from domestic/feral cats?
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