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Saving Wildcats celebrate world-first as birth caught on camera

Posted 11 Aug 2026

Saving Wildcats has captured the first-ever footage of a wildcat giving birth on camera. 

The rare footage was recorded at the project’s conservation breeding for release centre based at Highland Wildlife Park in the Cairngorms. The project led by the wildlife conservation charity the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), hopes this footage will provide valuable information into wildcat behaviours and help improve care and management of future litters. 

Saving Wildcats team leader Estelle Morgan said: “Having a birth captured on camera is an incredible resource for wildcat conservation. For the first time we can closely study the behaviour of a wildcat during labour and immediately after birth. 

“Every new piece of knowledge helps us better understand how to support our breeding programme and strengthens our efforts to recover this Critically Endangered species.”

The mother Skye gave birth to two healthy kittens bringing the breeding centre’s total number of newborn kittens in 2026 to seven. The births also mark the fifth consecutive year of successful breeding at the Saving Wildcats breeding for release centre. 

The kittens are expected to be eligible for release into the wild in 2027, joining the growing reintroduced population in the Cairngorms National Park. 

Estelle Morgan added: “A decade ago, births like these would have been hard to imagine. Now, we have kittens that may one day go on to raise families of their own in the wild, while this remarkable footage is helping us learn more about how to support future generations. It’s incredibly rewarding and gives us real hope for the future of Scotland’s wildcats.”

For the next six to eight months the kittens will live alongside their parents learning necessary life skills such as stalking, pouncing and navigating their environment. They will be transferred into specially designed pre-release enclosures to further prepare for the challenges of life in the wild. This structure aims to mimic natural dispersal behaviours of wildcats. 

In the centre, wildcats are monitored using a state-of-the-art remote camera system, enabling animal keepers to observe both the mothers and their newborn kittens with minimal disturbance. The cameras capture footage of female wildcats caring for their young in secluded den boxes, providing valuable insights into the natural behaviours of these elusive animals. 

People can sponsor wildcats including Skye in the project’s centre to help support the return of the Critically Endangered wildcat to Scotland savingwildcats.org.uk/sponsor

Saving Wildcats is supported by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot.

Find out more about Saving Wildcats

Notes to Editors

Hi-res images and video available at: https://we.tl/t-9cWjp5iEUeLsry1t 

Images and video are free to use. Please credit Saving Wildcats.

Notes to editors

  • In 2026, three females have given birth in the Saving Wildcats breeding for release centre – Morag, Isobel and Skye. Morag has produced a litter of three kittens, while Isobel and Skye have each welcomed two
  • Since 2023, Saving Wildcats has released 46 wildcats into the Cairngorms National Park in an effort to save the species from extinction in Scotland - Wildcat reintroduction project hailed as big success
  • The kittens were born in the Saving Wildcats conservation breeding for release centre at RZSS’s Highland Wildlife Park. The centre is the first facility of its kind in the UK and provides the environment needed to prepare young wildcats for life in the wild
  • The conservation breeding for release centre is off limits to the public and access by Saving Wildcats conservationists is kept to an absolute minimum. Only the animal management team are permitted to enter, and only for brief periods to carry out essential tasks such as feeding, veterinary checks and habitat maintenance. This is to ensure the wildcats do not become habituated to people

About Saving Wildcats (#SWAforLIFE)   

  • Saving Wildcats is a partnership project led by RZSS in collaboration with NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Nordens Ark and Junta de Andalucía. Releases are being conducted with the support of Cairngorms Connect. Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return work to mitigate hybridisation (interbreeding) and disease transfer is conducted together with Cats Protection. Work to move towards a fair coexistence between wildcats and people is conducted alongside the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). The project is seeking to build strong collaborations with the farming sector together with Agroecosystems Ltd. Together, the partnership is working to prevent the extinction of Scotland’s wildcats by breeding and releasing them into the wild, while tackling threats such as hybridisation with domestic cats. 
  • The project is supported by the LIFE Programme of the European Union, The Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot, Garfield Weston Foundation, the National Trust for Scotland, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, The European Nature Trust, players of the Postcode Lottery, Rewilding Europe’s European Wildlife Comeback Fund, and many generous others. 

Partner information 

  • The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) is a wildlife conservation charity which owns Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park. We safeguard threatened species from extinction: rzss.org.uk    
  • NatureScot is Scotland's nature agency. Responding to the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, we work to protect and restore nature by inspiring everyone to value our natural world. Our goal is a nature-rich, net-zero future for Scotland. For more information, visit our website: nature.scot    
  • Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is the Scottish Government agency responsible for sustainably managing Scotland’s national forests and land to make positive contributions to the economy, environment and people of Scotland: forestryandland.gov.scot  
  • The Cairngorms National Park Authority was set up to ensure that the unique aspects of the Cairngorms – both the natural environment and the local communities – are cared for, sustained and enhanced for current and future generations to enjoy. The Cairngorms National Park Authority provides leadership to all those involved in the Cairngorms and works in partnership with a range of communities, businesses, non-government organisations and public sector partners to deliver practical solutions on the ground: cairngorms.co.uk   
  • Nordens Ark, based in Sweden, works to ensure endangered animals have a future: en.nordensark.se/     
  • Consejería de Sostenibilidad, Medio Ambiente y Economía Azul de la Junta de Andalucía, based in Spain, leads Europe’s most successful carnivore reintroduction of Iberian Lynx: juntadeandalucia.es/medioambiente/site/portalweb/
  • Cairngorms Connect is a partnership of neighbouring land managers (Wildland Limited, Forestry and Land Scotland, RSPB Scotland and NatureScot) working towards a 200-year vision to enhance habitat, species and ecological process across a vast 600 square kilometre area within the Cairngorms National Park. It is the largest habitat restoration project in the UK: cairngormsconnect.co.uk 
  • Cats Protection is the UK's leading cat welfare charity. It helps an average of 156,000 cats and kittens a year through its national network which includes around 182 volunteer teams and 31 centres: cats.org.uk
  • Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) is a leading UK charity conducting conservation science to enhance the British countryside for public benefit. For over 90 years it has been researching and developing game and wildlife management techniques. GWCT advisors use research to provide training and advice to farmers and land managers on how best to improve the biodiversity of the countryside: https://www.gwct.org.uk/ 
  • Agroecosystems Ltd offers independent agricultural and environmental support for farms, crofts and estates with a strong understanding of farm business and practical management: https://www.agroecosystems.co.uk/