Wildcat kittens born outside captivity in Cairngorms

Wildcats are native to the UK, but have been pushed to the brink of extinction by hybridisation with native cats – which come from the wildcats from places like Israel in the middle east. As a result of this, as well as trying to remove the feral domestic cats, and their descendants, they are trying to create pockets of Scotland, which would allow these cats to recover.

The natural behaviour of a British wildcat when meeting a feral cat, is to kill it. However, as these animals become rarer, even rare breeding events, can threaten the survival of the whole species. This behaviour also means that with careful planning, we should be able to reintroduce them into other parts of the country. There are a range of other wild predators lost over the last couple of millennia – and I hope to see the others return, but it is thrilling to know that a wildcat is once again living and breeding in its native habitat of the Scottish mountains.

These wildcats are thought to be the first born wild in Scotland for 5 years, after 19 wildcats bred in the Highland wildlife park, were released into the Cairngorms national park.

Domestic cat

Domestic cats are thought to have been first tamed back around 10,000 somwhere in the middle east. Unfortunately, as this is the cat that makes up the worldwide domestic cat population (almost exclusively) in many regions like Scotland, while reduction in numbers made specific subspecies of wildcat endangered, it has often been hybridisation that has pushed them over the edge.

There is little point in showing a map of the world, as they are found in almost every human population. It is thought that there are at least 200 million across the globe

Domestic cats are thought to have been tamed in Israel, which has unfortunately meant that this species of wild cat is now spread across the globe – many local species of wildcat have become extinct through hybridisation, the British wildcat is just one such example. There are now only pure British wildcats in captivity, and while there are still quite a few living wild in Scotland they have Asiatic wildcat features. This has happened in many places and solutions are not yet forthcoming.

While unfortunate, there is still work being done. In the UK there are plans to clear a peninsular of domestic cats, and re-establish a wildcat population. Only in situations like Scotland is hybridization likely, the most common reaction to a wildcat meeting a domestic cat is for the wildcat to kill the domestic cat. I hope to live to see the wildcat roaming Scotland once more, but we will se what happens.

Wildcat kittens born outside captivity in Cairngorms

Tim
December 19, 2024

Tim
September 26, 2024

Wild cats avoid areas with wind turbines. This is a fact, which is why it is alarming that this one was given approval, as it is on wild cat land, and is one of the few healthy populations in the country. Hopefully, this review will be positive, but we will see. Wild cats are extremely ……

Tim
January 12, 2023

Wildcats have been restricted to parts of Scotland for hundreds of years, despite once being found throughout the UK. Indeed, it is a problem where a significant number of people now refer to it as the Scottish wildcat, something that is only temporary, and should not be the case for ever.

Tim
February 2, 2022

Many of the environmental issues that the UK faces continue to be worse because we are an island off the coast of Europe. Unlike France, we have to make the conscience choice to reintroduce wolves, where as in France they have returned naturally. Recent rewilding efforts in Germany and Belgium, saturated the local wildcat population ……

Tim
March 10, 2021

Once common across the whole of the UK, they were hunted to extinction. Currently, just a handful remain in Scotland. While interbreeding between wildcats and feral domestic cats is normally rare, in the current situation feral cats outnumber wildcats 1000 to one, and as such the wildcat is essentially extinct. The farmer who is looking ……

Tim
December 16, 2020

In the West, the idea of living alongside lion or leopard might be terrifying, but for many people in parts of Africa and Asia it’s just a way of life. In many parts of India, the tiger reserves are far too small. If the tigers would just stay in their own reserves, without human intervention ……

Tim
October 18, 2020

Savannah cats are a cross between a domestic cat and a serval. On the left is a savannah cat, on the right is a serval cat. A serval cat is a cat species, that stands a bit taller than a normal domestic cat. They live in the savannas of the world and hunt mostly by ……

Tim
December 21, 2019

We seem to be playing wack-a-mole when it comes to feedstock for farmed animals. In most of the world, livestock can graze for perhaps ¾ of the year. However, in countries with seasons, often in the winter the animals are in barns and are fed. Often, this feeding fattens up the animal faster than grazing ……

Tim
April 7, 2018

Image source Burrard-Lucas Photography Wild dogs are one of the hardest species of the savannah ecosystem to protect. This is because they live at low densities. They have been exterminated by humans in the misguided belief that wild dogs were killing more of their domestic livestock than other predators and they are highly impacted by ……

Tim
December 15, 2023

The mouse was considered to be stuck on the mainland, which means that if true it would have been lost for good. Thankfully this was not the case. This mouse was living under the identity of the Djoongari mouse, or the Shark bay mouse, on an island in shark bay. Furthermore, by looking at the ……

Tim
September 14, 2021

South Africa has rather a problem. They have given over a large amount of their country to wildlife conservation, and many of the tourists who visit, come to see the wildlife. However, South Africa also has an important hunting history. Now, if you go back 50 years the number of buffalo and similar was so ……

Tim
July 4, 2020

in 2015 the world was in uproar when a dentist from the States went to South Africa and shot a lion.T he shooting of lions is not unusual in South Africa, indeed they do more huntings than many countries. What was considered unacceptable was that this lion was tempted out of a protected area so ……

Tim
December 15, 2024

Wolves have only recently returned to Austria, with an estimated 80 wolves spread throughout the country. It is perhaps not surprising therefore, that animal welfare activists, took the government to court, when it set cull numbers at 20, or 25% of the population a year. The Austrian government had pointed to a condition in the ……

Tim
December 2, 2024

There are many species around the world which are so important to their habitat, that even a reduction in the population can cause problems – this is one of them. After tadpoles have lost their tails, many will climb onto the hairy back of the water buffalo, getting a ride to other rich feeding areas ……

Tim
November 12, 2024

It would appear that chimpanzee medicine is quite a complicated field. This is a significant range of conditions that can be treated, though it should also be noted, that this knowledge is likely to be shared in the group, as no one individual will have seen their mother suffer from all these conditions. While gorilla ……

Tim
April 11, 2024

Increasingly, scientists are coming up with simple ways to avoid wildlife pregnancies through medication in food. In the UK species needing this sort of thing include These vary in the cost to the UK economy (as do the various invasive species elsewhere in the world). Below, you will find a list of many of these ……

Tim
March 28, 2024

Wolves still exist in large numbers in Eastern Europe, and are even doing alright in central Europe (this wolf was photographed in Slovakia). Back in the 1960s, while small populations survived in Western Europe, the wolf had been exterminated from the majority of their former habitat. There was a remnant population of around 500 in ……

Tim
February 27, 2024

On this post, I will list a group of articles on British politics. Unfortunately, there have been quite a lot in recent times, hence this way to deal with them. These are mostly to do with climate and environment, rather than animals, though obviously this is of importance. It should be noted, that while some ……

Tim
December 7, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDf_rN13p_Y This bear was filmed, gnawing on a bone from a takin, a species of wild cattle. For a species which is thought to survive exclusively on bamboo, this would be strange behaviour. However, pandas do not survive exclusively on bamboo as roughly 1% of their diet comes from other foods. In fact, their digestive system ……

Tim
April 28, 2023

The government of the UK has been talking the talk for a significant period of time. At times they have suggested some policies that should move in the right direction, unfortunately they have often reversed these relatively quickly. An example of this is the governments green housing grants – advertised as intending to improve the ……

They are not hard to see if you are in the right place. I have seen them in Africa, take a night drive in almost any nature reserve. Links will be added below.

Big cat family tree

The Cat (felidae) family tree

Lynx family (this is the Eurasian Lynx)

Puma family

Leopard cat family

Domestic cat and family

The Cats form an incredibly successful family. It is true that they are missing from the polar regions, and Australasia, but everywhere that they reached they have been successful, and in many ecosystems they are the undisputed kings

Panthera Family

This family split from hte Felid ancestor 10.8 million years ago. There have been some debate as to whether the two species of clouded leopards should be included in Panthera. On the circular mammal tree (which we are using – look in the species watch tab, or click here)

They are generally included in a subgenus Panthera_Neofilis

Lion - all subspecies

Leopard - all subspecies

Sunda Clouded Leopard

Bay cat Familiy

Bay cat ancestor split 9.4 milion years ago

Asiatic Golden cat

Bay cat family

Marbled cat

Caracal Family

Caracal Ancestor split 8.5 million years ago

Caracal family

African Golden Cat

Serval

Ocelot Family

Ocelot Ancestor 2.9 million years ago

Geoffrey cat

Kodkod

Tigrina or Oncilla (North and South)

Lynx Family

Lynx Ancestor 3.2 million years ago

Lynx family (this is the Eurasian Lynx)

Iberian lynx ( Lynx pardinus ) lying down on a rock in Spain

Bobcat

Canada Lynx in the snow is gazing curiously at the camera

Puma Family

Puma ancestor 4.9 million years ago

Puma (cougar, Mountain Lion)

Jaguarundi

Cheetah

Leopard cat Family

Leopard cat Ancestor 5.9 million year ago

Domestic cat Family

Domestic cat Ancestor

Domestic cat and family

Andean Cat (often called the Andean mountain cat)

Andean mountain cat

This small wildcat species are found across an isolated series of mountain regions in the Andean mountains.

This cat is considered endangered in its native habitat. It is found in the high andes but there are only about 1400 that remain in the wild and declining. One big threat is the fact that the mountain Chinchilla has been hunted to the brink of extinction – given their habitats coincided, the loss of this food source is likely to be a big threat to the survival of the Andean mountain cat, as at high altitudes, there is less food, so the loss of one of their major food sources might well cause the population to crash.

There is precedent for a crash like this- the Iberian rabbit population was hit with a series of illnesses both caused by human carelessness or intentionally introduced. This caused the rabbit population to crash and as a result most Iberian lynx to die. It is likely that a captive breeding project for the mountain Chinchilla and rerelease into its former range could quickly change this situation – a single female can have 12 young at a maximum, and are ready to breed at 2 years old – that means that within 5 years, a group of 20 of these animals could have become thousands – whether we can afford to wait that long is another issue.

Below this, we will include a video shot by a conservationist, of this cat in the wild. Below that, is a list of any articles which we have written on this species in the past, and below this we will include any links as to where you can see this species in the wild.

aaa Zhangjiajie sandstone peak forest reserve, China

Zhangjiajie sandstone peak forest reserve, China

This reserve covers a complex to trevane covered in ravines deep canyons and has a mild climate with abundant rainfall. As a result much of the area is covered by rainforest and there is a great deal of wildlife. It is a total of 1,400 square miles or 3,600 square kilometres.

Animals of particular interest include the leopard, the clouded leopard, the pygmy slow loris, the yellow belly pheasant, and long-tailed pheasant, the giant salamander, five step snake and many more. Others include the stump tailed macaque, the suman sheep, the pangolin, the black bear, the lynx, the otter, the forest musk deer, the samba deer, the jackal, the mandarin duck, the sparrow hawk and a few more.

Rare species include the bison, the wild goat, the wild boar, the wildcat, the civit cat, the flying squirrel and several more.

Species watch

All species are important, often reintroductions have failed because a small unnoticed animal was missed. Over time, we will amass pages for as many species as possible. However, just as important is seeing how species are closely related. As such as well as looking at species from a specific ecosystem or family, we will also include family trees of many of the families on earth. It should be noted, that this is to help you find wildlife you wish to see, so will never link to every species. In either way, these links to these will be placed at the top.

Bovini or cattle family tree

Equidae: Genus for horses (horses, donkeys and zebra)

Cervidae family (deer) here red deer

Camelid family (camels and Llamas)

Aardvark