Scotland’s wildcats are barely hanging on by a whisker. The release of young captive-bred wildcats in the Scottish Highlands marks an important milestone as conservationists aim to restore the wild population.
Our pre-release training programme is our way of developing the necessary life skills that the cats will need for life in the wild. It is important to note that it is illegal to feed live prey to the wildcats. Instead, the programme will include the development of tools (e.g. automated feeders, lures etc.) that will help promote and expand key behaviours, as well as physical and mental fitness. Key behaviours include hunting, foraging, social interactions and avoidance toward human presence.
Before release, the wildcats will have veterinary health checks to ensure they are free from disease and physically healthy.
This is good news! Conservation work is near and dear to me. But I wonder if anyone can inform me about feral cat colonies in Scotland? I wonder if wildcats can establish a presence in the face of feral cats. And I wonder how native birds will fare.
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Would that be a bad thing? Like if they’re used to captivity, would they be able to get accustomed to wild life?
I wondered the same. Also in captivity, all their feed is dead animals. How good are they going to be at getting food when their prey is alive?
Hell, our domestic cat brings home rats/ rabbits and even wild ducks. They should be fine to hunt.
They’re cats.
@withersailor
I look it up and they have developed a specialized training facility that helps promote wildlife skills in the cats:
This is good news! Conservation work is near and dear to me. But I wonder if anyone can inform me about feral cat colonies in Scotland? I wonder if wildcats can establish a presence in the face of feral cats. And I wonder how native birds will fare.