Clinging by a claw

Most of us yearn to catch a glimpse of the glorious Scottish wildcat, yet never do. If we don’t act immediately, we never will. The wildcat is teetering on the edge.

Though revered, wildcats in Scotland have been persecuted for centuries. Add to that habitat fragmentation, and interbreeding with domestic cats, and it is doubtful that their numbers in the wild now reach three figures.

A lifeline for the Scottish wildcat?

European funding has been secured to deliver a Saving Wildcats (#SWAforLife) recovery project which includes the development of the UK’s first wildcat reintroduction centre, to be based at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore.

The project is supported by an EU Life grant and co-funding from the Garfield Western Foundation, the National Trust for Scotland, the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the European Nature Trust. Over an initial six-year period, it will provide facilities for breeding, veterinary care, remote monitoring and training, with the first wildcats expected to be released into a specially selected site in the Cairngorms National Park in 2022.

We will work alongside Scottish Natural Heritage, the Cairngorms National Park Authority and Forestry and Land Scotland, as well as European partners Norden’s Ark from Sweden and Spain’s Junta De Andalucía, who have led successful recovery projects for Iberian lynx

How you can make a difference

The tragic demise of the wildcat is manmade. We owe it to the natural world to act fast before it really is too late. Your support has and will continue to play a vital role in securing a more hopeful future for the Scottish wildcat.

Without your support we could easily be the generation that witnesses yet another extinction. Without you, this symbol of wild beauty will be but a memory.