Wild kittens born to released mothers for third year in a row
The Scottish wildcats have given birth in the Cairngorms National Park
Released Scottish wildcats have given birth to wild kittens in the Cairngorms National Park for the third year in a row.
The Saving Wildcats project announced on Monday that several released females have given birth to new litters this week.
Led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), Saving Wildcats captured trail camera images of a released female carrying kittens along a path.
RZSS said it is a huge accomplishment for wildcat restoration efforts in Scotland.
“There is so much anticipation when you first suspect there have been kitten births,” Louise Hughes, Saving Wildcats field operations manager, said.
“It is a truly exciting event and seeing kittens on trail cameras really lifts the whole team and spreads a genuine buzz throughout the many communities across Scotland that support wildcat restoration.”
The team suspected that multiple female wildcats had given birth after changes in behaviour were spotted by project officers monitoring their GPS-radio collar data.
After setting out trail cameras, they were rewarded with the images of a female wildcat carrying her kittens on Tuesday June 2.
It is not currently known if other females have given birth or how many kittens are in each litter.
“This increase in the wild population is one of the most encouraging signs a reintroduction project can have,” Roo Campbell, NatureScot mammal specialist said.
“It shows that the wildcats that have been released are adapting to the wild, surviving, finding mates and reproducing without human support.”
The animals, also dubbed the Highland tiger, were declared functionally extinct in Britain in 2019.
Since 2023, Saving Wildcats has released 46 wildcats into the Cairngorms National Park in an effort to save the species in Scotland.
Some of the females now living in the wild successfully produced litters in the spring and summer of 2024 and 2025, which experts said provides hope for wildcats.
Though the confirmation of successful breeding is reassuring, the RZSS said the Scottish wildcat population remains “small and vulnerable”.
The wildlife conservation charity said efforts to bolster the population will continue, with more animals due to be released this summer.
Saving Wildcats has reminded the public that wildcats are protected by law. People should not actively seek them out. If a wildcat is encountered, people should avoid disturbing them and quietly leave the area.