Europe

UK

Scotland

• Cairngorms "project launched a pilot project ... to trial conservation action in an area in the Cairngorms where cats with the distinctive wildcat markings have been sighted."

• Cairngorms Connect

• Forestry & Land Scotland "There are three main ways in which we are working to help wildcats: positive forest management, supporting research on the existing population, and helping our partners to reinforce the population."
  
  "A significant proportion of the remaining wildcats located during recent Scottish Wildcat Action survey work have been found within forestry plantations we manage. This is probably because our plantations are persecution-free havens for wildcats. Furthermore, forest management to produce timber creates a mosaic of habitats that provide wildcats with their basic needs of food and quiet areas for resting and rearing kittens. For example, clear felled and replanted areas are usually grassy and support high densities of voles and mice, which means they are ideal hunting areas for wildcats. Only a small part of any plantation is harvested in any single year, so wildcats will always be able to find large undisturbed areas in plantations for resting and breeding.
  
  However, as wildcats are a European Protected Species, we carry out detailed site surveys prior to any forestry work due to the small chance they will be disturbed. We will often postpone harvesting work to avoid potential disturbance of wildcats and other species who call the forest home. We strictly adhere to the following guidance to minimise any risk to resident wildcats:"

• Saving Wildcats Click here to see who is in the Scottish Wildcat Action Partnership

• Wildcat Haven "Our aim is to save the purity of the Scottish Wildcat by removing the threat of hybridization in a humane way."