UK Nature and Environment

Eight wildcats are in the process of being paired up for a fourth consecutive breeding season in the Saving Wildcats conservation breeding for release centre, off-show at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park.

Wildcat pairs Embo and Torr, Fergus and Morag, Mallachie and Skye and Oscar and Margaret are all integral to the future of the critically endangered Scottish wildcat population. It is hoped that any kittens that they have, which will likely be born later in the spring, could eventually be released into the Cairngorms National Park following time in bespoke enclosures designed to prepare wildcats for the challenges of life in the wild.

Estelle Morgan, Saving Wildcats ex-situ animal team leader said “It is great to see the breeding season is well underway at the centre. Monitoring the wildcats during this time is very interesting – typically the females set the boundaries, meaning the males can behave quite nervously around them.