Critically endangered Scottish wildcat kittens caught on camera for the first time

Four wildcat kittens have been born at the Saving Wildcats conservation breeding for release centre at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park.

For the first time, cameras installed inside the centre have recorded female wildcats caring for their young in secluded den boxes. It’s hoped that this unique footage will give animal keepers a new window into how wildcat mothers raise their kittens during the crucial first weeks of their lives.

Estelle Morgan, Saving Wildcats animal team leader, said: “With the population of wildcats in Scotland critically endangered, each birth has the potential to make a significant impact on restoring their numbers in the wild, and should be celebrated.

“It's a major advancement that, for the first time in the centre, we can capture previously unseen behaviour on camera, giving us greater insight into how mothers interact with their young during these first important weeks.”

The kittens, born to females Morag (aged eight) and Margaret (aged seven), are being raised in a special off-show area of the park near Kincraig.

The centre is closed to the public to give the young wildcats the best chance of survival, helping them prepare for the challenges of life in the wild without becoming used to people.

Wildcat kittens typically stay with their mothers for around six months, learning vital survival and social skills before heading out to live independently. The new arrivals could be among the animals eligible for release into carefully selected sites in Scotland from 2026, as part of the Saving Wildcats partnership project.

Saving Wildcats is a partnership project led by RZSS in collaboration with NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Nordens Ark and Junta de Andalucía. Releases are being conducted with the support of Cairngorms Connect and Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return work to mitigate hybridisation (interbreeding) is conducted together with Cats Protection. Together, the team is working to prevent the extinction of Scotland’s wildcats by breeding and releasing them into the wild, while tackling threats such as hybridisation with domestic cats.