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Wildcats released in Scottish Highlands in effort to prevent extinction in UK
Nineteen captive-bred cats released at secret location in Cairngorms in first phase of rewilding project.
Nearly 20 young wildcats have been released into the wild in a pine forest in the Scottish Highlands, in the first phase of a project to rescue the species from extinction in the UK.
The cats were reared at a wildlife park operated by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) as part of a breeding programme that will eventually lead to about 60 wildcats being released in the Cairngorm mountains south of Inverness.
The project, the first time a predatory mammal has been deliberately reintroduced in the UK, was set up after the cats’ numbers plummeted as a result of significant losses of native woodland, human persecution and interbreeding with domestic cats.
In 2019, a landmark report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature said the Scottish wildcat population was close to being functionally extinct because of a loss of genetic integrity and population decline. Its wild population, estimated then to be about 30 animals, was found to be "no longer viable".
Wildcats at the Highland Wildlife Park , in Kingussie, Scotland, on 11 October 2023.
The cats are on show in the park, and also bred in captivity at the park for release into the Cairngorms National Park.
© Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert / Guardian / eyevine
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