European wildcat
Felis silvestris silvestrisThe European wildcat is the last wild felid in the British Isles, and is often referred to as the Highland tiger. The wildcats are shy creatures that live mainly in dense deciduous or mixed forests, preferably far from humans.
Length: 55 - 80 cm Withers height: 35 cm
They are greyish-brown speckled with elements of black stripes and have a bushy tail. Their diet consists mostly of small rodents, but the species adapts to the availability of prey. Wildcats defend their territory and chase off rivals in order to keep food for themselves. They are most active at night.
Due to genetic studies the European wildcat (Felis silvestris) is divided into two subspecies, one distributed on the European continent and in Scotland (Felis silvestris silvestris) and one in Turkey and the Caucasus (Felis silvestris caucasica).
The European wildcat is similar in appearance to the domestic cat, but the domestic cat (Felis catus) is descended from the Afro-Asiatic wildcat (Felis lybica). The main threat to the wildcats is interbreeding with domestic cats to a degree that the difference between the species has been blurred. The offspring are fertile and domestic cat genes are thus spread into the wildcat population. This also makes the wildcats susceptible to domestic cat diseases.
Exactly how many pure wildcats still remains in Scotland today is uncertain. A project has been started to preserve the species in the wild. Based on this and on historical information, the IUCN Cat Specialist Group concluded in a report that the population of European wildcats in Scotland is no longer classified as viable and is thus considered "functionally extinct". This means that there are too few reproducing cats for the population to survive over time. Globally, the European wildcat is not classified as endangered by the IUCN.