Scottish wildcats bred in captivity and then released into the Cairngorms National Park have had kittens. Videos released today show the young animals playing with each other and their mum. It is believed that “at least” two females have given birth.
The species was declared critically endangered in 2018, so the news is welcome relief to charity Saving Wildcats who captured the footage. But it will take DNA testing when the kittens are older to prove the wildcats are purebred with wildcat males. The kittens have been born after a ground-breaking project to repopulate the Highlands with the indigenous animal.
by the partnership, led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. ‘We didn’t dare to dream’ of wildcat kittens in first year This marks a significant milestone in the project’s efforts to restore the wildcat to Scotland. Dr Keri Langridge, Saving Wildcats field manager, said: “We suspected that some of the females had given birth when their movement and activity changed very suddenly but didn’t know for sure until footage of the kittens was captured on our cameras.
“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, and we carry out all monitoring work under licence from NatureScot. “We didn’t dare to dream that we would have wildcat kittens i.
