Scottish Wildcat Project

WildCRU has been carrying out research on the Scottish wildcat for almost 20 years.

Background

The Scottish wildcat is Britain's only native felid and once widespread across Britain, the wildcat is now restricted to northern Scotland owing to a variety of factors including habitat loss, persecution and hybridization with the domestic cat. Extensive hybridization with the domestic cat is thought to be one of the main threats facing this species and has resulted in difficulties in distinguishing wildcats from wildcat x domestic cat hybrids and feral tabby domestic cats. The lack of clear cut identification has resulted in problems with collecting ecological data on genetically pure wildcats as well as problems in enforcing conservation legislation, yet the mechanisms of hybridization and extent of introgression are poorly understood. There is a real risk that hybridization will result in the genetic extinction of the Scottish wildcat.

As few as 400 individuals are estimated to remain in the wild, although this estimate was based on extrapolation of the percentage of museum skins that were found to have the wildcat pelage onto another population estimate. As a result, the actual number of wildcats currently remaining is unknown and if fewer than 400 genetically pure individuals are found to remain then the Scottish wildcat would be classified as Critically Endangered. In addition, comparable baseline data on its distribution and densities in different regions of the Scottish highlands, essential for developing practical conservation management plans, is generally lacking for the Scottish wildcat because of the complications associated with hybridization.

Much of WildCRU's research in the past has focused primarily on how best to identify the Scottish wildcat with detailed research being carried out on ecological behavioural differences (Dr. Mike Daniels), examination of evolution and morphological differences including skull and bone length (Dr. Nobby Yamaguchi) and genetic differences (Dr. Mike Daniels and Dr. Carlos Driscoll). The results of this work led to the production of an Action Plan for conservation of the Scottish wildcat in 2004.

With the development of a pelage identification tool by Dr. Andrew Kitchener at the National Museums Scotland in collaboration with WildCRU and ongoing development in genetics, new methods have evolved allowing more detailed studies to be carried out on distribution and ecology of the Scottish wildcat. This has been aided by recent technological developments in wildlife research including the use of camera trapping which have shown to be more successful than previous methods (road traffic accident surveys, interviews and questionnaires and live trapping) at detecting wildcats in the field.

Current Project

WildCRU's current project on the Scottish wildcat forms the basis of a DPhil project (Kerry Kilshaw) examining the current status and distribution of the Scottish wildcat.

The main aims of this project are to:

1) Determine the current distribution of the Scottish wildcat by carrying out surveys across the Scottish Highlands using a combination of different methods including camera trap surveys, scat surveys and road traffic accident surveys.

2) Establish the current population status of the Scottish wildcat

3) Compare different survey techniques and recommend best methodology for future survey work

4) Investigate the levels of introgressive hybridization in more detail

Publications on the Scottish wildcat

Daniels, M. J., (1997) The biology and conservation of the wildcat in Scotland, University of Oxford, DPhil Thesis, 207 pp.

Daniels, M. J., D. Balharry, D. Hirst, R. J. Aspinall & A. C. Kitchener (1998) Morphological and pelage characteristics of wild living cats in Scotland: Implications for defining the 'wildcat'. Journal of Zoology, 244, 231.

Daniels, M. J., Beaumont, M. A., Johnson, P. J., Balharry, D., Macdonald, D. W. & Barratt, E. (2001). Ecology and genetics of wild-living cats in the north-east of Scotland and the implications for the conservation of the wildcat. Journal of Applied Ecology, 38,146-161.

Driscoll, C.A. (2011). Genetics and conservation of the Wildcat and Caspian tiger. University of Oxford, DPhil Thesis, 257 pp.

Driscoll, C. A., Menotti-Raymond, M., Roca, A. L., Hupe, K., Johnson, W. E., Geffen, E., Harley, E. H., Delibes, M., Pontier, D., Kitchener, A. C., Yamaguchi, N., O'Brien, S. J. & Macdonald, D. W. (2007) The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication. Science, 317, 519-523

Kilshaw, K., Johnson, P.J., Kitchener, A.C. & Macdonald, D.W. (submitted). Detecting the elusive Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) using camera trapping. Oryx

Kilshaw, K. & Macdonald, D. W. (2011) The use of camera trapping as a method to survey for the Scottish wildcat. Scottish Natural Heritage Report 479.

Kilshaw, K. & Macdonald, D.W. (2010). Reintroduction of the Scottish wildcat into the Scottish highlands; a feasibility study. WildCRU publication, 213 pp.

Kilshaw, K., A. Drake, D. W. Macdonald & A. C. Kitchener, (2009) The Scottish wildcat: a comparison of genetic and pelage characteristics. 67. Scottish Natural Heritage Commissioned Report, pp. 63.

Kilshaw, K., Macdonald, D.W., & Kitchener, A. (2008). Feral cat management in the Cairngorms; Scoping study. Report to Scottish Natural Heritage, No. 22371, 149 pp.

Kitchener, A. C., N. Yamaguchi, J. M. Ward & D. W. Macdonald (2005) - A diagnosis for the Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris): A tool for conservation action for a critically-endangered felid. Animal Conservation, 8: 223-237.

Macdonald, D.W., Yamaguchi, N., Kitchener, A.C., Daniels, M., Kilshaw, K. & Driscoll, C. (2010). Reversing cryptic extinction: The history, present and future of the Scottish wildcat. In: The Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids (Macdonald, D.W & Loveridge, A. Eds), Oxford University Press.

Macdonald, D.W., Daniels, M.J., Driscoll, C., Kitchener, A. & Yamaguchi, N. (2004) - The Scottish Wildcat: Analyses for Conservation and an Action Plan. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Oxford, 67 pp

Yamaguchi, N., Driscoll, C. A., Macdonald, D. W., Kitchener, A. C. & Ward, J. M. (2004) Craniological differentiation between European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris), African wildcats (F. s. lybica) and Asian wildcats (F. s. ornate): Implications for their evolution and conservation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 83, 47-63.