Curiosity Did Not Kill This Cat: A look at what is threatening the Scottish Wildcat and how to help

Many believe the days of great wild predators in the United Kingdom are relegated to history books and ancient myths, but that is not quite the case. There are still a few of these animals that roam the munros and one who desperately needs our help: the Scottish Wildcat (Felis silvestris). It is sometimes referred to as the Highland Tiger (though not quite as big as its Asian cousins) and is descended from European wildcats.

The Scottish Wildcat (Felis silvestris). Image courtesy of Saving Wildcats.

Where can we find them?

European wildcats came to Britain at the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 9,000 years ago [1]. They once lived across Britain but now they can only be found in the Scottish Highlands.

How many are left in the wild?

The most recent estimates put Scottish wildcats between 100-300 adults left in the wild [2]. This number is so low that they can no longer be considered a viable wild population.

Major Threats to Wildcat Survival

Hybridization

Scottish wildcats can breed with outdoor unsterilized domestic cats as well as with feral cats which has resulted in hybrid wildcats. This wouldn’t be an issue in healthy wild populations, but since domestic cats greatly outnumber wildcats, they are effectively being bred out of existence [3].

This map was created by Tiesmeyer et al. (2020) to show the distribution of wildcats and hybrids in Europe. The blue dots indicate wildcats, the orange triangles are F1 hybrids, the yellow stars are F2 hybrids, the light blue squares are wildcat backcrosses and the pink squares are domestic cat backcrosses. The team was not able to find any pure wildcats to sample in Scotland [4]. This map clearly shows how destructive hybridization has been to Scottish Wildcats.

Hunting

Feral cats can be legally hunted when they kill game birds kept on private land [5]. Wildcats are technically legally protected from any hunting, but because they look so similar (particularly at night when they are more active), they are often accidentally shot.

Disease

Feral cats infect wildcats with a number of diseases like feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) [6]. Both FIV and FeLV are retroviruses that attack the immune system causing the animal to be at higher risk of secondary infection or disease [7]. Both are spread through direct contact and are destructive to naïve wild populations.

Habitat destruction and fracturing

Wild habitat loss from logging, road/trail building, and other destructive behaviour decreases wildcat food sources, ranges, and numbers. It is important to note that the fracturing of wild areas with roads and maintained trails similarly negatively affects all wildlife [8].

Logging in Scotland.

How to Spot a Wildcat

Wildcats can look very similar to domesticated cats. The major differences are that wildcats have wider and flatter heads, their ears are pointed more to the side than up, and they have a bushy ringed tail that more resembles a raccoon’s [9].

The difference between the Scottish Wildcat (left) and the domestic cat (right) from Saving Wildcats.

Projects to Increase Wildcat Numbers

The Royal Zoological Society for Scotland (RZSS) has been working with a captive wildcat population since 2015. In 2020, a record 57 wildcat kittens were born! There are more than 30 zoos, wildlife parks, and private collections that are members of the RZSS wildcat breeding program [10].

The kittens are kept in special enclosures that mimic living in the wild so that they can hopefully be successfully reintroduced.

A Scottish Wildcat kitten. Image from Saving Wildcats.

Where to See Wildcats in Captivity

Highland Wildlife Park has a Woodland Walk area where visitors can see Scottish Wildcats. The park also has a private area created specifically for reintroduction.

For more information on Highland Wildlife Park click here.

How Vets Can Support Wildcats

As veterinarians and vet students, we can directly aid wildcats by organizing and volunteering with feral cat Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) programs [11] in rural Scotland, which will help reduce competition for wildcats and help protect them from disease.

For vets based in Scotland, including the impact on wildcats to the talk they have with owners who have FIV and FeLV positive cats is helpful. The possible effects on wildlife are something these owners may not have thought about and might persuade them to keep their cats indoors.

General Ways to Support Wildcats

Keep your pet cats indoors and if that is not feasible, ensure that they are sterilized and disease-free.

Report any sightings! If you manage to get a picture of a Scottish Wildcat in the wild, you can submit the image to iRecord where the Saving Wildcats team can access the data.

Do so by clicking here.

Volunteer or donate money to wildcat organizations such as:

www.savingwildcats.org.uk

www.rzss.org.uk/support-us/adopt-an-animal

Donate to organizations that do catch and release sterilization programs for feral domestic cats such as:

www.cats.org.uk

www.sunnyharbour.org.uk/support-us/appeals/feral-cat-program/

To Learn More about Scottish Wildcats

Visit www.savingwildcats.org.uk

Watch the documentary "The Tigers of Scotland"

The Highland Tiger. Image courtesy of Saving Wildcats.

References

[1] Kilshaw, K. and Cole, M. (2011). Scottish Wildcats Naturally Scottish. [online] Perth Scotland: Scottish National Heritage Publishing. Available at: https://www.nature.scot/sites/default/files/2017-07/Publication%202011%20-%20Naturally%20Scottish%20-%20Wildcats.pdf.

[2] Kilshaw, K., Johnson, P.J., Kitchener, A.C. and Macdonald, D.W. (2014). Detecting the elusive Scottish wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris using camera trapping. Oryx, [online] 49(2), pp.207–215. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/0ECA2B26BC4BE25468A6CB375E17E608/S0030605313001154a.pdf/detecting_the_elusive_scottish_wildcat_felis_silvestris_silvestris_using_camera_trapping.pdf

[3] French, D.D., Corbett, L.K. and Easterbee, N. (1988). Morphological discriminants of Scottish wildcats (Felis silvestris), domestic cats (F. catus) and their hybrids. Journal of Zoology, 214(2), pp.235–259.

[4] Tiesmeyer, A., Ramos, L., Manuel Lucas, J., Steyer, K., Alves, P.C., Astaras, C., Brix, M., Cragnolini, M., Domokos, C., Hegyeli, Z., Janssen, R., Kitchener, A.C., Lambinet, C., Mestdagh, X., Migli, D., Monterroso, P., Mulder, J.L., Schockert, V., Youlatos, D. and Pfenninger, M. (2020). Range-wide patterns of human-mediated hybridisation in European wildcats. Conservation Genetics, 21(2), pp.247–260.

[5] Aebischer,N.J., Davey,P.D. & Kingdon,N.G. (2011). National Gamebag Census: Mammal Trends to 2009. Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Fordingbridge (http://www.gwct.org.uk/ngcmammals).

[6] Macdonald,D.W., Daniels,M.J., Driscoll,C., Kitchener,A. & Yamaguchi,N. (2004). The Scottish Wildcat: Analyses for Conservation and an Action Plan. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford.

[7] Hartmann, K. (2012). Clinical Aspects of Feline Retroviruses: A Review. Viruses, 4(11), pp.2684–2710.

[8] Fahrig, L. and Rytwinski, T. (2009). Effects of Roads on Animal Abundance: an Empirical Review and Synthesis. Ecology and Society, 14(1).

[9] French, D.D., Corbett, L.K. and Easterbee, N. (1988). Morphological discriminants of Scottish wildcats (Felis silvestris), domestic cats (F. catus) and their hybrids. Journal of Zoology, 214(2), pp.235–259.

[10] Saving Wildcats (2020). UK conservation breeding programme for wildcats. [online] Available at: https://savingwildcats.org.uk/about-saving-wildcats/conservation-breeding-programme/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2021].

[11] Boone, J.D., Miller, P.S., Briggs, J.R., Benka, V.A.W., Lawler, D.F., Slater, M., Levy, J.K. and Zawistowski, S. (2019). A Long-Term Lens: Cumulative Impacts of Free-Roaming Cat Management Strategy and Intensity on Preventable Cat Mortalities. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 6.

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