Granddad’s Camera
Scottish wildcat, as it appears in the game

No.069 · Mammals · Exceptionally rare

Scottish wildcat

Felis silvestris

Britain's rarest mammal: a thick-set tabby with a blunt, ringed tail, so secretive that almost nobody sees one in the wild.

When to look

All year, mostly at night.

Time of day

Best time
Dusk and night, all year. It is mostly crepuscular (active at dusk and dawn) and lies up in a den by day.
Where in the game
the Cairngorms (pine forest and moorland)
Size
Head and body about 54–59 cm, tail 26–33 cm
Weight
Females about 4 kg, males up to about 5 kg
Lifespan
Around 8–12 years in the wild
Population
An estimated 200 in Britain (95% range 30–430; Mammal Society, 2018), but true wildcats are hard to separate from hybrids; the IUCN Cat Specialist Group concluded in 2019 that there was no viable wild population (Saving Wildcats)
Status
Critically Endangered (Great Britain Red List for Mammals, 2020)

Diet

Mainly rabbits and hares; mice and voles where rabbits are scarce; occasionally birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians

Habitat

Rough grassland, moorland edge, and woodland edge; a few live in the eastern Highlands.

Breeding

Mating from January or February; one litter a year of 2–6 kittens, born May–August in a den among boulders, cairns, peat hags or tree roots. Kittens are weaned at 12 weeks and stay with their mother for about 5 months

Field signs

  • Black-tipped, thick, blunt-ended tail with clear dark rings
  • Cat-like tracks with no claw marks
  • Scats left uncovered on prominent tracks and rocks
  • A stocky, tabby cat with dark stripes down its body and no white patches except perhaps a small throat spot

Did you know?

  • Saving Wildcats, led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, has released 46 wildcats into the Cairngorms National Park: 19 in 2023, 9 in 2024 and 18 in 2025. The first wild-born kittens were confirmed in May 2024.
  • Many Highland 'wildcats' seen by walkers are feral or hybrid cats; a true wildcat has a bushy tail with black rings and a blunt black tip (Saving Wildcats; Mammal Society).
  • The wildcat was gone from England and Wales by the late 1800s, so Scotland's is the last wildcat population in Britain (Saving Wildcats).

Moments worth waiting for

  • Stalking at dusk April to September, dusk and night
    A thick-tailed tabby freezes at the edge of the heather, one paw raised, staring at something in the grass.

Photo tip

Honestly, a wildcat photograph would be a huge achievement: it takes many nights with remote camera traps at licensed research sites and permission from the project. Set expectations low and never try to find one yourself.

Be a good naturalist

Wildcats are among the most threatened mammals in Britain. Do not search for them, follow collars, or share locations. Report a possible sighting to the Saving Wildcats or NatureScot team. Free-roaming pet and feral cats spread disease and hybridise, so keep cats neutered and vaccinated.

The law

Protected since 1988 under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and a European protected species: it is an offence to kill, injure or disturb it or to damage a den

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