Abstract

In 2020, a new phase for the conservation of wildcats in will begin in Scotland: £3.2 million of European funding has been secured to deliver the Saving Wildcats (#SWAforLIFE) recovery project. This project will include the development of the UK’s first wildcat reintroduction centre, situated at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore. The centre will provide facilities for breeding, veterinary care, remote monitoring and training, with wildcats being released into the Cairngorms National Park in 2022. Over the next six years, the Saving Wildcats project will build on the work of the Scottish Wildcat Action partnership (2014-2019). The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland will work with Scottish Natural Heritage, the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Forestry and Land Scotland, as well as European partners Norden’s Ark from Sweden and Spain’s Junta De Andalucía, which have led the successful recovery of the Iberian lynx. I will outline the plan for the conservation of wildcat going forward and describe conservation and scientific work that has led us to this point.

Followed by a drinks reception