Scottish wildcat

The Scottish wildcat is a European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) population in Scotland. It was once widely distributed across Great Britain, but the population has declined drastically since the turn of the 20th century due to habitat loss and persecution. It is now limited to northern and eastern Scotland. Camera-trapping surveys carried out in the Scottish Highlands between 2010 and 2013 revealed that wildcats live foremost in mixed woodland, whereas feral and domestic cats (Felis catus) were photographed mostly in grasslands.

It is listed as critically endangered in the United Kingdom and is threatened by hybridisation with domestic cats. Since all individuals sampled in recent years showed high levels of hybridisation with domestic and feral cats, this population is thought to be functionally extinct in the wild.

Felis grampia was the scientific name proposed in 1907 by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. who first described the skin and the skull of a wildcat specimen from Scotland. He argued that this male specimen from Invermoriston was the same size as the European wildcat (Felis silvestris), but differed by a darker fur with more pronounced black markings and black soles of the paws. In 1912, Miller considered it a subspecies, using Felis silvestris grampia after reviewing 22 skins from Scotland in the collection of the Natural History Museum, London. When Reginald Innes Pocock reviewed the taxonomy of the genus Felis in the late 1940s, he had more than 40 Scottish wildcat specimens in the collection of the Museum at his disposal. He recognized Felis silvestris grampia as a valid taxon.

Results of morphological and genetic analyses indicate that the Scottish wildcat descended from the European wildcat. The Great Britain population became isolated from the continental population about 7,000 to 9,000 years ago due to a rise of sea level after the last glacial maximum. Since 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group recognizes Felis silvestris silvestris as the valid scientific name for all European wildcat populations and F. s. grampia as a synonym, arguing that it is doubtful that the Scottish wildcat is sufficiently distinct to accord it separate subspecific status.

The male Scottish wildcat has a head-to-body length ranging from 578 to 636 mm (22.8 to 25.0 in) with 305–355 mm (12.0–14.0 in) long tails and of females from 504 to 572 mm (19.8 to 22.5 in) with 280–341 mm (11.0–13.4 in) long tails. Condylobasal length of skulls of females varies from 82 to 88 mm (3.2 to 3.5 in) and of males from 88 to 99 mm (3.5 to 3.9 in). Males weigh 3.77–7.26 kg (8.3–16.0 lb), while females are smaller at 2.35–4.68 kg (5.2–10.3 lb).

The Scottish wildcat's fur is distinctly striped with a solid tabby patterning. Its ringed tail is bushy with a black tip. It differs from the domestic cat by stripes on the cheeks and hind legs, the absence of spots, white markings and coloured backs of the ears. It is heavier than a domestic cat, has longer limb bones and a more robust skull. It is also larger in body size, but with a shorter gastrointestinal tract.

The Scottish wildcat has been present in Britain since the early Holocene, when the British Isles were connected to continental Europe via Doggerland. It was once common throughout all of Great Britain. In southern England, it likely became locally extinct during the 16th century. By the mid-19th century, its range had declined to west-central Wales and Northumberland due to persecution, and by 1880 to western and northern Scotland. By 1915, it occurred only in northwestern Scotland. Following the decreasing number of gamekeepers after World War I and a re-forestation programme, the wildcat population increased again to its current range. Urbanisation and industrialisation prevented further expansion to the southern parts of Scotland.

Its current distribution includes the Cairngorms, the Black Isle, Aberdeenshire, the Angus Glens and Ardnamurchan. It lives in wooded habitats, shrubland and near forest edges, but avoids heather moorland and gorse scrub. It prefers areas away from agriculturally used land and avoids snow deeper than 10 cm (3.9 in).