Wildcat

One of the ancestors of our pet cats, wildcats are thought to be the most abundant cat species across their range, which stretches from Western Europe to India. They are very rare in the UK however, with fewer than 400 remaining in the Scottish Highlands. Human encroachment on their habitat and interbreeding with domestic cats has reduced numbers and replaced the pure genetic line. Thousands of wildcats were killed as pests by farmers and gamekeepers in the 1800s and 1900s. Wildcats feed mainly on rodents, but also hunt other larger mammals, birds, lizards, frogs and fish. They sometimes scavenge and cache prey, returning to it later.

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