Two orphaned Scottish wildcat kittens rescued by conservation group Wildcat Haven are recovering in a purpose-built rehabilitation and release centre in the West Highlands.
Most wildcat sightings reported to Wildcat Haven turn out to be domestic tabby cats or part-wildcat ‘hybrids’, but this was the rst time it was newly-born wildcat kittens. ‘I almost fell chair when I saw the photos,’ explained Wildcat Haven’s chief scienti c advisor Dr Paul O’Donoghue. ‘The markings looked amazing, far better than any kitten I’d seen in a zoo, but [they were] in a very exposed place. It seemed likely they had been abandoned or orphaned and were in grave danger.’ Twenty-four hours a er the original eyewitness sighting in the East Highlands, there was still no sign of a mother and the kittens were moving closer to the road.
As the rst eldworkers Charlie Chandler and Savannah Brownlow arrived on site, weighing up how to best make a capture, they were met by the same eye witness, carrying two weak and dehydrated wildcat kittens wrapped in his jacket.