Scottish Wildcats in British Zoo's

adrian1963

adrian1963

Well-Known Member
We all love to see the endangered big cats in our zoo's but we have our own true wild cat that is endangered so why is there only a very few zoo's in the U.K actually trying to help our own scottish wildcat
We should all get our act together and do something to help by letting our local zoo know that it's not just the big cats that need help
Surely a pair of Scottish Wildcats would be alot cheaper to keep then a pair of tigers/lions ect

How do you feel about the U.K zoo's not helping our own endangered species as there are plenty out there that need help.
 
Your Cat magazine has run stories on wildcats for the past 3 issues, they are helping collect money for Port Lympe Zoo to construct ariel walkways,
they got enough money that they are now collecting for another walkway in a Scotish Wildlife Centre (Camerdown).

As to why zoo's don't keep them in the UK, well who knows, maybe they are hard to get, or maybe zoo's just don't see them as a big crowd puller (from my point of view they would be wrong because I'd go to a zoo with wildcats).
 
adrian1963 said:
How do you feel about the U.K zoo's not helping our own endangered species as there are plenty out there that need help.
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I think you will find that many U.K. zoos do work on native species but may not be highly publicised.
 
There was a thread on the forum some weeks ago about some UK zoo' that are interested in breeding the Scottish wild cat so at least it could be a start to a breeding program for them within the UK
 
The nearest location to me that keeps Scottish Wildcats is the New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Park. They're quite frequent breeders, and have kittens almost annually.
 
Hey up guys, I worked with Scottish Wildcats up at the Highland Wildlife Park last summer and they certainly did seem to be a big crowd puller, especially when they had kittens.
I'm thinking they might not be that common on zoos because there are less than 400 left in the wild and due to the problem with them mating with pets/ferals their bloodlines are getting less pure so taking more out of the wold would lead to more of these matings? Would be a shame to lose them altogether though.
 
When you compare wild cats to domestic moggies there is little difference - a real problem for the Scottish population is the incursion of moggie genes. It is still difficult to tell what is pure and what is hybridised, even in the hand.

Most UK zoos find that British-native species can be difficult to display or do not have the wow factor of similar exotic species. I would imagine that the appeal of the wildcats at Highland has diminished with the appearance of bigger displays, such as the Amurs...
 
Scottish wildcats would certainly benefit from being kept by more collections. They could be potential back-up for the endangered wild population though the pure/impurity factor would be an important issue in any later release scheme.

I think the main problem is they are often very retiring so are not on many zoos' 'wanted' lists.
 
I am going to England the last week of October and am going to Port Lympne with one of my main objectives to photograph scottish wildcat (F.s. grampia).

I will be arriving at Lympne from France, where I will have gotten (I hope) indian wildcat (F.s. ornata), although I think Lympne has those as well.

From here in the States, I have two mid-east races (F.s. tristrami and F.s. gordoni).
 
Arizona Docent said:
I am going to England the last week of October and am going to Port Lympne with one of my main objectives to photograph scottish wildcat (F.s. grampia).

I will be arriving at Lympne from France, where I will have gotten (I hope) indian wildcat (F.s. ornata), although I think Lympne has those as well.

From here in the States, I have two mid-east races (F.s. tristrami and F.s. gordoni).
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Pease note that grampia is an invalid taxon. Scottish wildcats are the same as European wildcats.
 
I would not be too definite on that. Islands are havens for (sub-)speciation.

Some say ... differently:
QUOTE [Unique to Britain, and now only found in Scotland, Scottish wild cats (Felis sIlvestris grampia) are a subspecies of the wildcat (Felis silvestris) and although similar to the European subspecies the Scottish is larger, more heavily camouflaged and hunts across a wider range of habitats.] UNQOUTE

Anyhow, the IUCN Red List on 2006 data has Scottish indeed in with the nominate European subspecies F. s. silvestris, however Kitchener and MacDonald remain open to putative subspecies status for British/Scottish wild cat.
 
These cats should be a great crowd puller.Here in Spain,all news relating to Iberian lynx are a matter of national interest , and they are almost constantly in the media.It would be far easier for a zoo here to obtain a pair of giant pandas than a pair of Iberian lynx , and those in captivity are generally rescued individuals kept in specialist conservation centres.I find it difficult to envisage a zoo in which Scottish wildcats would not be a huge source of fascination for the public at large.As people in marketing are now so fond of saying, "local is the new exotic".Now that everybody in even the most humble jobs has been to Bali , Kathmandu and the Serengeti , people are becoming fascinated by the hidden treasures a few kilometres from home , and taking a new pride in native species.I often make the point that an urban-dwelling European zoo visitor will, in his lifetime, probably see more red pandas than he will see free-living foxes and badgers combined.I think the shy nature of the Scottish animal could actually work in its favour as an exhibit , with the more alert visitors hoping to obtain a glimpse , but with no guarantee.Indeed , some zoos are intentionally making it a little difficult to view their stock , as this is supposed to assuage visitors´criticisms of zoos , and convince them that the exhibits are more "natural".Also, this type of exhibits slows visitors down and means it takes them longer to do a lap of the zoo.In this way, even very small zoos can "pack more in " and seem like good value for money to the zoo visitors.If all animals are immediately visible , there is more tendency for visitors to say "right, seen that" and finish the visit too soon.
 
I was not aware of the debate of grampia v. silvestris - thank you for that. Of course, I don't have any european wildcat photos either, so I'll be happy to see them either way.
 
Just as an aside, I recently read Mike Tomkies' book 'Wildcat Haven' (2 earlier books collected together) about his adventures in the 1970's breeding Wild Cats in a remote area of Scotland, including a male from London Zoo that he bred from & returned to the wild. I would think anyone interested in Scottish Wild Cats would find this interesting, though some of the methods seem a little rough round the edges now; he also touches on some of the purity/hybrid issues.
 
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