Cairngorms National Park: Hope for critically endangered wildcats as two litters of kittens born in the wild

The Saving Wildcats partnership - led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland - released 19 Scottish wildcats into the Cairngorms National Park last summer. Now conservationists have confirmed that at least two of the females have given birth in the wild, marking a significant milestone in the project’s efforts to bring the wildcat back to Scotland.

A subspecies of the European wildcat, the Scottish wildcat was determined to be on the verge of extinction in 2018.  Once widespread across Scotland, the felines have been threatened by the loss of their woodland habitats, persecution, and interbreeding with domestic cats.

Saving Wildcats field manager Dr Keri Langridge said their team suspected that some of the females had given birth when their movement and activity changed suddenly. But they didn’t know for sure until footage of the kittens was caught on camera.

“With the support of local landowners, gamekeepers and the local community, our field team has successfully managed to monitor and film these kittens in the wild – which is no simple task. We have taken extreme care not to disturb the mother and kittens,” Dr Langridge said. “We didn’t dare to dream that we would have wildcat kittens in the first year of releases, and seeing those kittens on the video was the most exciting moment of the project so far.”

Project lead Dr Helen Senn added: “This is a major milestone for wildcat recovery in Scotland. These births demonstrate that the process of breeding wildcats for release into the wild is working, as those released animals have learned to hunt and survive – and now reproduce in their first breeding season, a clear indication that they are doing well.

“However, we have to bear in mind that life in the wild is hard and they will face may challenges,” she continued. “While the mortality rate for wildcat kittens in their first year of life can be high, we are hopeful for the future of these kittens.”

Despite efforts to trap, neuter, vaccinate and release feral domestic cats in the local area, there was also a risk of hybridisation between the wildcats and domestic cats, she said. “That’s why we always emphasise the important contribution to wildcat conservation that local people can make by ensuring their pet cats are neutered, as well as microchipped and vaccinated.  While we know from their GPS-radio collars that the two females that have given birth have overlapped with male wildcats, we do not yet know their paternity.” 

Once the wildcat kittens are old enough, the team will attempt to get a DNA profile from them. “We are hopeful that they are indeed the offspring of male wildcats that were released last year – and the first of many more to come.”