The winds of change are blowing, finally!
13 March 2013
After a few delays we are finally getting around to making those changes that we mentioned late last year.
Please bear with us as these changes take place over the next couple of weeks.
Thanks for your continued support.
Kitten holds new hope for the future
14 December 2012
During the latter part of each year, The Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie, gets the occasional call regarding an abandoned wildcat kitten. These kittens are generally ones that are born late in the season, usually late July to early August, probably due to the female losing a litter earlier in the year. As the species is generally a strictly seasonal breeder due to the harsh winter climate in the Highlands, these late litters seem to be abandoned with greater frequency than ones born in the spring. Rearing kittens is obviously quite taxing for the mother as she still needs to hunt and feed her offspring, and as she will need to gain weight to see herself through the winter, she may be physiologically forced to make a decision to protect her life at the expense of her kittens. The vast majority of these kittens prove to be hybrids and so are of little value to the captive breeding programme, however, there is the odd exception.
In late October the Park was contacted by the Strathbogie Veterinary Centre about an abandoned kitten that had found its way to their veterinary centre in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. It was clearly tabby marked with a ringed tail, but when they are only a few weeks old, it is actually quite difficult to predict how they will look when mature. He was also a pretty feisty individual. One of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's geneticists from the Wildgenes laboratory has developed a rapid genetic test that looks at three distinct attributes to give us a reasonable indication of the purity, or not, of a particular cat.
Douglas Richardson from the Highland Wildlife Park said "The test is not definitive, but until we get such a test, this is a good guide. We have also applied this three-way test to our resident cats at the Highland Wildlife Park, and it came as no surprise that the majority of our “wildcats” proved to be of hybrid origin to one degree or another; the same is very likely true for the majority of the captive population within the UK. But this latest kitten, who came with the name Zak, passed all three tests with flying colours."
Zak is now being reared in an off-exhibit area of the Park, and due to his age he is being fed domestic kitten food and has a heat lamp to nestle under. He is still a little ball of fire, which given his size is more amusing than scary, but we hope that he will come to be a new founder breeding male for the captive population.
Immediate action for Highland Tigers
16 November 2012
A range of national actions to save the Scottish wildcat look set to be agreed over the next six months.
The move follows the first-ever meeting of a diverse group of land management, research and conservation organisations at Scottish Natural Heritage’s (SNH) Battleby conference centre, near Perth, on Friday 14 September.
The Scottish Wildcat Conservation Action Group includes representatives from SNH (chair); Forestry Commission Scotland; Cairngorms National Park Authority; Scottish Wildcat Association; Royal Zoological Society of Scotland; Scottish Gamekeepers Association; National Museum of Scotland; University of Oxford, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit; Highland Foundation for Wildlife, and the National Trust for Scotland.
The main threat to wildcats is hybridisation with feral domestic cats which raises many challenges in correctly identifying wildcats from often fleeting sightings. The first action agreed by the group was an immediate targeted survey to identify the best surviving populations of wildcats.
Survey work will be coordinated with the intention of identifying key regions to focus research and conservation actions within.
Other possibilities discussed included innovative approaches such as captive breeding and translocation of cats in the wild. However, the current emphasis is to obtain more up to date information on wildcat numbers and distribution which in turn will be used to prioritise action on the ground.
The group aims to have a comprehensive action plan underway by next spring forming a Scotland-wide approach to wildcat conservation overseen by SNH.
Ron Macdonald, SNH’s head of policy and advice, who chaired the meeting, said: “I am delighted that the meeting was extremely positive with all present committed to working together for the benefit of wildcat conservation. A range of options was discussed and we are open to suggestions of what actions can make a real difference for this species.
“What is important is that we are committed to urgently pressing on as a focused group to save this species. We all agree that it is in a parlous state and by working together we can help reverse the decline of the Scottish wildcat.”
Will Boyd-Wallis of Cairngorms National Park Authority said: “We are very pleased that continued action to save the wildcat is being led by SNH with such a diverse, experienced and strong minded group. One of the strengths of the Cairngorms Wildcat project was the combination of voluntary effort by land managers, gamekeepers and by Cats Protection alongside rigorous camera trap research. We are determined to assist the action group in encouraging this to continue in the Cairngorms National Park and elsewhere.”
George Macdonald of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) said: “Following on from our involvement with the Cairngorms Wildcat Project, we feel it is enormously important the efforts to preserve the wildcat continue at a critical time and we are happy to assist this process again.
“In particular, gamekeepers have managed large areas Scotland’s countryside for many decades and we will be appealing to our members to help us with information about historic wildcat strongholds as well as up to date sightings in the wild.
“As keepers cover the ground at all hours they often see things others don’t, and we can collate the information and feed this into the action group’s data, helping to identify priority conservation actions for wildcats.”
Iain Valentine, director of research and conservation for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said: “We are keen to extend our commitment to wildcat conservation by using the various specialised skills sets that we have at RZSS, such as captive husbandry, breeding expertise and an on-site genetics team, and play a key role within the SNH-coordinated Wildcat Conservation Action Group. All of the parties represented at the meeting are unanimous in the opinion that time is of the essence and this joint approach to saving this Scottish icon helps assure a successful outcome.”
Individual members of the Conservation Action Group will work together in task groups focused on key aspects of wildcat conservation such as research, taxonomy, genetics and captive breeding, developing proposals alongside other experts and presenting these for approval by the core action group.
The Nature of Scotland Awards
15 November 2012
The Nature of Scotland Awards celebrates excellence in conservation of Scotland’s beautiful landscapes and unique wildlife. The RSPB are excited to announce that the 2013 awards are open for entries on the 14th November 2012.
There are eight categories, and it is free to nominate those who you believe should be rewarded for their conservation efforts.
Deadline for submission 15th March 2013.
New calendar for 2013
5 November 2012
Trevor D. Russell has released his new Scottish wildcat calendar for 2013.
Last year his calendars sold extremely well and he was kind enough to donate some of the sales to help Highland Tiger, this year he is doing the same - £1.50 from each calendar sold will be donated to us.
Massive thanks to Trevor and to all of you wildcat fans that will buy.
