2020 was a successful year for Scottish Wildcats!
Which is great news for these beautiful and elusive wild cats, as they are one of the rarest animals in the world today. They are also one of the UK's rarest animals.
The Scottish Wildcat is a native cat to the British Isles. Not only were they once found throughout mainland Scotland, but, they were also found throughout England and Wales too. However, these beautiful highland tigers went extinct in England and Wales during the Victorian era. They also almost went extinct too in Scotland not long after that, but, it was a little bit of luck that helped them survive.
Today however, Scottish Wildcats are also gone from most of Scotland, where they once roamed throughout places like forests. But now, Scottish Wildcats are only found in small parts of the Scottish highlands today.
The Scottish Wildcat population is thought to be so low today, that it is thought that there are as few as 30 individual Scottish Wildcats remaining in the wild of Scotland today. That makes their population extremely low.
It also means that these beautiful and majestic cats are on the brink of extinction.
Considering the Scottish Wildcat population is incredibly low today, wildlife conservation work is extremely important for this species survival. The good news is that wildlife conservation work is being done on Scottish Wildcats, to help preserve these beautiful cats for the future.
In 2020, that conservation work has proved to be successful for Scottish Wildcats, as Scottish Wildcats had a successful breeding season last year. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has announced that 57 Scottish Wildcat kittens were born last year - this made 2020 a record breeding year for Scottish Wildcats!
This news offers renewed hope for the survival of one of the world's and UK's most endangered animals and cats. Hopefully, 2021 can be as successful too.
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