PREVIEW

Scotland’s wildcats are looking for love this Valentine’s Day as they in the process of being paired up for a fourth consecutive breeding season.

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.

“Our animal management team has years of specialist knowledge and with the support of our partners, we are able to breed wildcats successfully. Any kittens born at the dedicated conservation breeding for release centre are eligible for release, taking the partnership another step towards restoring a self-sustaining population in the Cairngorms National Park.”

Saving Wildcats aims to restore this critically endangered species by breeding them and releasing them into the wild, while mitigating the threats that they continue to face. After releasing 28 wildcats into the Cairngorms Connect landscape since 2023, the partnership hopes to conduct a further set of releases this summer.