Arguably, the Scottish wildcat is already extinct because even the best experts find it difficult to distinguish a hybrid Scottish wildcat from the real thing. The Scottish wildcat has been mating with domestic and feral cats for a very long time although it's become a lot worse over the last 60 years according to genetic research. The Times science editor, Tom Whipple, puts it very nicely by saying that it is "extinction by sex".
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| Scottish wildcat. A hybrid or a genuine wildcat? It's hard to tell the difference from appearance. You have to do DNA testing. This picture, I believe, as in the public domain. |
As the habitat of the Scottish wildcat became fragmented because of human activities and as there are more people in Scotland than many years ago when there was a Scottish wildcat population, and as, as a consequence there are more domestic and feral cats in Scotland, and further, as there are less Scottish wildcats, the existing ones were much more prone to mate with domestic and feral cats than before. There was a gradual speeding up of what is called hybridisation which is the creation of hybrid Scottish wildcats, a cross between the purebred wildcat and the domestic or feral cat.
They look quite similar to the real item but if they are not purebred Scottish wildcats, they are not Scottish wildcats in my opinion. Anyway, they've bred some in captivity and released them in the Cairngorm region of Scotland with GPS collars and they hope that they will survive the winter. It is believed that they will but as I see it, this isn't just about appearance.
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| The Cairngorm region of Scotland where they hope the Scottish wildcat will make their last stand and thrive and grow their population. The image, I believe, is in the public domain. |
A hybrid Scottish wildcat is not going to be as hardy and as capable in survival as the original wildcat that roamed the Scottish mountains thousands of years ago. In fact, the wildcat also lived in the south of England before around 1835 when the last one was shot by a landowner.
Yes, the wildcat lived in England but was persecuted to extinction except in Scotland where they were so much as persecuted as became extinct, as mentioned, by mating with domestic cats.
It's rather sad that for over 2000 years or more the Scottish wildcat lived happily throughout large parts of the UK and perhaps primarily in Scotland, mating with each other and remaining purebred and successful. But as human population numbers grew, humankind gradually encroached upon their lives and eroded their chances of survival.
As David Barclay, a conservation manager at Saving Wildcats said: in India where they have a similar problem trying to protect and conserve the Bengal tiger, at least you can recognise a Bengal tiger from all other cats. However, with the Scottish wildcat you can hardly tell the difference between a non-purebred wildcat and a purebred one. The markings are slightly different and in my view the hybrid version is a little bit more slender than the stocky and solid original, genuine item.
But this is where the problem really lies. It truly is extinction by sex and as I recall, it is the only example of this kind of extinction where you have a wild cat species which looks like the genuine article more or less but which isn't.
Do you treat this cat as a Scottish wildcat? It seems that we have to because as I also recall the captive cats that they bred and have released are not purebreds, they are hybrids. This the best we can do and let's hope they survive the Cairngorm winter.
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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.
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