Wildcat project comes to end but points the way for future action

Photo:   Cairngorms Wildcat Project

On the same day I was reading the final report on the Cairngorms Wildcat Project, I also received a sighting report of a large cat in this area; of wildcat size and appearance, including the typically thick, blunt and ringed tail.

This was a night time sighting in car headlights and can't be verified but I hope it's a good omen, even though the chances of it being a pure wildcat are extremely slim.

With official estimates of the remaining wildcat population in Scotland being continually down sized, and the latest from The Scottish Wildcat Association suggesting the number might be as low as 35, pure bred Scottish Wildcats could soon be extinct in the wild.

For the past year Dr O’Donoghue at the University of Chester, has been working in collaboration with Dr Ross McEwing at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland WildGenes Lab in Edinburgh, on developing a diagnostic genetic test to provide solid evidence of how many true Scottish wildcats actually

Could Chester geneticist save the Scottish wildcat from extinction?

A Scottish wildcat - but is it a hybrid or a purebred?
Picture supplied by Neville Buck,
of The Aspinall Foundation.

Geneticists from the University of Chester are developing a test that could crack the Scottish wildcat’s DNA code and save one of Britain’s rarest and most iconic species from extinction.

"If we can identify enough wildcats to develop a viable breeding programme, we can then look at ways of conserving this beautiful species and preventing one of Britain’s most incredible, iconic animals from disappearing from the face of the earth."
Dr Paul O''Donoghue

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