Wildcat kittens may be released into Highlands

A conservation project is celebrating a successful first breeding season with the birth of 22 wildcat kittens.

It is hoped the animals, also dubbed the Highland tiger, could be among the first of their species to be released into the wild in Britain.

Led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Saving Wildcats is working with national and international experts to restore Scotland’s wildcat population by breeding and releasing them into the Cairngorms National Park.

Planning is under way to release the kittens, which were born between April and August this year, into the Highlands in 2023.