New kittens born to Saving Wildcats project

Ten more kittens have been born at a Scottish wildlife park as part of a wildcat captive breeding programme set up to try to save the species.

In the wild the Scottish wildcat is extinct or on the brink of extinction, according to research.

The Saving Wildcats project at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park is breeding wildcats with the aim of releasing some in the Cairngorms.

The two litters of five were born to mums Tulla and Margaret, bringing the total number born in the project’s first ever breeding season up to 18 so far. 

RZSS said litters of five were incredibly rare in captivity.

The initiative announced the birth of the first kittens - a total of eight in three litters - earlier this year.

Sixteen adult cats were paired up earlier this year after arriving at the park in 2021.

Led by the RZSS, Saving Wildcats is working with national and international experts to restore the wildcat population by breeding and releasing them into selected locations in the Cairngorms National Park.

Plans are being made for the first releases in 2023.

All released wildcats would be fitted with a GPS collar so their movements and behaviour could be recorded.

The project would also seek to tackle the problems behind the decline in the species.

Numbers in the wild have diminished due to habitat loss, hunting and inter-breeding with domestic cats.