Scottish wildcat

Tilcayo Cats original · British Bees · Sources and editorial assessment · Originals retention rule

The Scottish wildcat is a wild cat found only in Scotland. It is very rare and legally protected in the United Kingdom.

Description

The wildcat can be hard to distinguish from a feral or pet tabby, especially one of mixed ancestry. A true wildcat is bigger and more solidly built. Its tail is thick and blunt, with a black tip and evenly spaced black rings. The stripe along its back ends where the tail begins, and the stripes on its flanks are unbroken.

White patches on the mouth, throat or chest, spots, or a back stripe that continues onto the tail all point to hybrid or domestic ancestry. Genetic testing may be required to be certain.

The head and body measure 47–66 cm and the tail 26–33 cm. Males weigh 3.8–7.3 kg and females 2.4–4.7 kg.

Habitat

Wildcats favour the boundary between forest and open country such as moorland and mountain slopes. They hunt in clearings, along forest edges, in young plantations and on moorland. Ardnamurchan has traditionally been a place to see one.

Behaviour and diet

Small rodents, rabbits and hares make up most of the diet, with birds, amphibians and fish also taken. A wildcat either waits in ambush beside burrows or creeps up on prey before a final dash.

Wildcats are active throughout the year, mostly at night and at twilight, though they are seen more often by day in winter. They live alone. Territories can reach 14 km² on moorland but may be smaller than 1 km² where rabbits are abundant. A male's range overlaps those of several females, and both sexes mark their ground with urine and droppings. Dens are made among boulders, under tree roots or in disused fox or badger holes.

Breeding

Mating takes place between February and April, and most kittens are born in May. There is normally one litter a year of two to six kittens, born in a den lined with grass or heather. The male does not help, and the kittens become independent at around five months.

Conservation

The wildcat is protected by law in the UK and is on the Scottish Biodiversity List. Interbreeding with feral cats is wearing away its genetic distinctiveness.

In 2021, Couzens and colleagues reported population estimates ranging from fewer than 400 to 1,000 animals. They named the threats as centuries of persecution, which probably still continues illegally, deaths on roads and, most seriously, hybridisation with feral cats. They considered that few genetically pure wildcats, if any, survive outside refuges such as Ardnamurchan and Morvern.