Western Daily Press (Saturday)
New ‘Highland Tiger’ is born
NEW footage has been released of a rare Scottish wildcat kitten born at Chester Zoo.
The female kitten is part of a breeding programme that is striving to save Britain’s rarest mammal from extinction.
As few as 100 wildcats – also known as the ‘Highland tiger’ – are estimated to remain in the UK.
The animals once thrived in Britain but were hunted to the brink of extinction for their fur and to stop them from preying on game birds. As the only remaining wild feline species, wildcats are now protected under UK law but are still under huge threat from habitat loss, cross-breeding with domestic cats and disease.
Chester Zoo is one of a number of conservation partners which form Scottish Wildcat Action – a co-ordinated effort to bring the tenacious hunters back from the brink. Conservationists have hailed the latest kitten as ‘another lifeline for the species’.