18 more wildcats released into the Cairngorms as new population takes hold

Wildcats have been successfully released into the Cairngorms National Park this year in another important step towards saving the species in Scotland.

This is the third year in a row that wildcats have been released into the Highlands after being declared functionally extinct in Britain in 2019. This year, 18 animals were released by the Saving Wildcats partnership, led by wildlife conservation charity the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), bringing the total up to 46 wildcats.

In a huge step forward for restoring the species, some of the now wild-living females have successfully produced litters of kittens in the spring and summer of 2024 and 2025.

Dr Helen Senn, Saving Wildcats project lead at RZSS, said: “Just a few years ago, the species was teetering on the edge of extinction in Scotland. Now we’re watching them not only survive but start to raise their own kittens in the wild. That gives us real hope for the future.

“However, to give wildcats a fighting chance, we must keep breeding and releasing more animals into the wild and continue to look after the population already present in the landscape until it can successfully survive on its own. Small, recently reintroduced populations are highly vulnerable to threats like road mortality, interbreeding with feral domestic cats, fire and extreme weather events.”

Additional funding is required as the project continues, particularly as after Brexit, Saving Wildcats is no longer eligible to benefit from the EU LIFE Programme, which has significantly contributed to the project so far.

Dr Senn added: “It takes huge amounts of time, expertise and resources to bring a species back from the brink and we can’t do it alone. We are committed to looking after this newly established population and maintaining the connections with the local community that we have built-up during the project. We would love to hear from anyone keen to support wildcat restoration.”

Saving Wildcats is a partnership project led by RZSS in collaboration with NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Nordens Ark and Junta de Andalucía. Releases are being conducted with the support of Cairngorms Connect and Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return work to mitigate hybridisation (interbreeding) is conducted together with Cats Protection.

The Saving Wildcats Conservation Breeding for Release Centre is based in a private area of RZSS’s Highland Wildlife Park. The centre has facilities for breeding, veterinary care and remote monitoring, and prepares wildcats for release into the wild.

To help raise awareness of the plight of wildcats and secure further support, Saving Wildcats has created a new film, Clinging by a Claw, produced by SCOTLAND: The Big Picture and supported by The European Nature Trust. Narrated by Outlander star Sam Heughan, the film captures the beauty of the Highlands and the challenges of trying to bring a species back from the brink. Find out more or register to host a screening at savingwildcats.org.uk/clinging-by-a-claw