Another successful breeding season for Saving Wildcats

The Saving Wildcats partnership has had another successful breeding season, culminating in the birth of sixteen kittens in the project's off-show conservation breeding for release centre at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park. Margaret and Cranachan have had a litter of two. Droma and Arran and Fruin and Mallachie have had litters of three. And Skye and Oscar and Fian and Rannoch have had litters of four!

These kittens are all eligible for release in 2025 and will hopefully play an important role in securing a future for the species. Over the next year these wildcats will be prepared for the challenges of life in the wild. Once they are independent and no longer reliant on their mums, they will move into large pre-release enclosures designed to support natural development and reduce exposure to humans and disturbance.

Remote CCTV cameras allow the team to remotely see how the kittens are getting on, whilst also collecting valuable data to monitor their behavioural development. This also means the team has captured adorable footage of the young wildcats playing with their siblings.