Highland Tiger

Highland Tiger gets 'Active Aboyne'

Wed, 3 September 2010 00:00:01 GMT

That's right, David Hetherington is out and about once again to tell people about the Highland Tiger in the Cairngorms.
He will be appearing at the Active Aboyne festival on Monday 20th September, 7.30pm - 9.00pm.

FInd out why the Scottish wildcat is in trouble and what David and the rest of the Highland Tiger team are doing to help these amazing animals, including finding out about the cameras that have been set up all over the place to help us to catch a glimpse.

It costs �5. After costs of hiring the hall are covered, all proceeds go to the Highland Tiger conservation fund. Follow the link below for further details and how to book.

Fancy a fling?

Tue, 2 September 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Glamourpuss invites you all to the Highland Tiger Fling on Wednesday 29th September 2010.
The fling will be held from 19:00 (7pm) in the prestigious Tullynessle and Forbes Hall, Tullynessle, Aberdeenshire.

There will be a raffle, various stalls, a tombola and an auction along with experts and information if you have any questions about the Highland Tiger project.

To find out more about the Fling and for details of how to get a ticket follow the link below.

Now you see us.

Sat, 20 August 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Did you manage to catch a glimpse of our elusive Highland Tiger team?

They were wandering the highlands this summer, appearing at shows and fairs to help spread the word and the word is WILDCAT.

Here they are at the Grantown show chatting to the public about what the project involves and how it's all going.

If you din't manage to catch up with them, David Hetherington will be doing more talks so we will keep you updated with when and where you can catch him. Until then if you have any questions feel free to drop us a line at highlandtiger@rzss.org.uk.

Kittens doing well.

Thu, 18 August 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Following up on our news story from the 19th July, we can finally reveal that Seasaidh and Hamish's kitten is a boy!
The little guy is doing well and is taking after his dad with his boisterous and curious nature.

In additional news there were also three more kittens born to a pair that are currently not on show to the public. They have turned out to be a male and two females taking the park's cat numbers to five males and seven females.

Big cat finds a new home in Newtonmore

Sat, 13 August 2010 00:00:01 GMT

After a bit of furniture removal and a lot of help from staff and trustees, the beautiful Mela cat has found pride of place in the Newtonmore Wildcat Centre.

Whilst this giant is easy to spot there are many more around Newtonmore as part of the Wildcat Experience. The Wildcat Experience, with its elements of treasure hunt, map-reading and exercise, is proving a great success with those who get involved. Local residents have enjoyed being involved in the decoration side and having a resident wildcat model in their gardens. Many of them have also got hooked on seeing how many they can find. There are currently nearly 80, so it is quite a challenge. Here's hoping that along with the fun they have, the visitors are learning about the Scottish Wildcat and becoming aware of its situation.

Cats that have got the cream.

Tue, 30 July 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Highland Tiger would like to thank our friends from the Cream O'Galloway in Castle Douglas. With the help of their customers and visitors they have raised �70 for the project, keep up the good work guys!

Kitty cat makes a pur-rr-fect Highland Tiger

Fri, 19 July 2010 00:00:01 GMT

The kitten was the only one born to mum Seasaidh and is still to be sexed and named.

One of 12 wildcats at HWP, the Scottish wildcat is now one of Britain's rarest mammals and is in serious danger of extinction. As the only remaining native feline, the arrival of a new kitten is an important boost to captive populations as well as a beautiful new addition for visitors to see.

As Douglas Richardson, Animal Collection Manager at the Highland Wildlife Park, said: �From latest estimates, the Highland tiger - as the Scottish wildcat is also known - is more rare than some of its larger cousins such as the Amur tiger that can also be seen here. Historically they were hunted for fur and killed as vermin but more recently disease and vehicle collisions have also taken their toll. However, the greatest risk they face is interbreeding with domestic cats; extinction by dilution. The remote Highlands provide a last refuge for this endangered cat that once occurred throughout the Britain.�

Wildcat talk in Tomintoul on Thursday

Mon, 29 August 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Today it feels as if November has come a couple of months early to the Cairngorms. Northerly winds and driving rain make it a day for catching up with stuff in the office! But for those of you in the Tomintoul area needing to escape the worst of the weather, why not pop along to a talk about the Wildcat Project I'll be giving at 10 am this Thursday (2nd) at the Glenlivet Estate office in Tomintoul? Maybe see you there.

Free neutering of farm cats in the Cairngorms!

Thu, 4 August 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Cats Protection (CP) have launched a scheme whereby farmers and crofters in the Cairngorms National Park can get farm cats neutered for free during the month of August.

The charity supports the Cairngorms Wildcat Project by neutering both pet and feral cats, helping to prevent interbreeding, and thus hybridisation, with endangered wildcats. It will have a stall tomorrow at the Black Isle Show to inform people about their neutering work and is encouraging Cairngorms farmers and crofters with unneutered cats to visit them at the Show to register for a neutering voucher. Not only does neutering help reduce the risk to the wildcat population, but it prevents unwanted kittens (apparently an unneutered female domestic cat can be responsible for 20,000 descendants in just five years!), benefits the health of the cats themselves, and by helping to keep the domestic cat population under control, reduces the impact on wildlife species which are predated by cats.

Farmers not visiting the Show can call the CP national helpline on 03000 121212 to register for a voucher. CP operatives may also be able to trap and transport the cats to the local vet for neutering before returning them. This voucher scheme runs until the end of August.

The Cairngorms Wildcat Project will be represented at the Highland Field Sports Fair at Moy, south of Inverness, on Friday and Saturday, where we'll be located within the Scottish Gamekeepers Association's marquee. It should be a great opportunity to talk to many gamekeepers about their experiences with wildcats and let folks know what we're doing to conserve them. Maybe see you there!

Intensive camera-trapping

Tue, 2 August 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Over the winter and spring this year Kerry Kilshaw from WildCRU at the University of Oxford's zoology department has been trialling intensive camera trapping as a method of determining presence and abundance of Scottish wildcats as part of a study funded by WildCRU and Scottish Natural Heritage. In cooperation with the Cairngorms Wildcat Project, Kerry set up 40 camera traps on an estate on the west side of the Cairngorms National Park, and trialled different methods of attracting wildcats to the cameras. As you can see from the photos below, she got some great shots of wildcats by using dead pheasants and partridges as bait. Nice work Kerry! Check out those tails...

For more information on wildcat camera trapping in the Cairngorms National Park, check out the September edition of BBC Wildlife magazine which should be hitting news-stands very shortly.

Photographs copyright Kerry Kilshaw, WildCRU

Camera trapping update

Mon, 1 July 2010 00:00:01 GMT

We've had a few interesting camera trap photos recently. I'd set up a cam in a deserted and disused steading in the north of the National Park in response to someone letting me know about a stripy cat they'd caught a glimpse of there. I must admit I was fully expecting it to be a tabby feral cat. However, within a few days I got several photos of the cat below, and its markings (such as its ringed tail without a stripe running down its length) suggest it is probably a wildcat hybrid.

.

One of the gamekeepers at the Atholl Estate set up one of our camera traps at a log across a stream which he reckoned was being used as a natural bridge by some of the local wildlife, possibly a wildcat. However, so far, he's got lots of photos of several different pine martens running across the log. Intriguingly, the martens seem to have a one-way system as the vast majority of the photos show the martens going in one direction only. Presumably, there's another log further up- or downstream where they all come back the other way! The photo below was taken by one of our cams on the Glenlivet Estate.

As of tomorrow, myself and other members of the team will variously be on hand over the course of the three days of the Scottish Game Fair at Scone near Perth. We'll be at the Highland Tiger stall in the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust's marquee, so if you're around, pop in for a chat.

Neutering feral cats in the Cairngorms National Park

Tue, 23 June 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Apologies for the lack of updating lately! I've been very busy recently with unspectacular administrative work, but there have also been some positive Project developments in the past month or so. I had a very productive meeting with enthusiastic representatives from all the Cats Protection volunteer branches which cover the Cairngorms National Park to discuss how best to intensify and expand the Trap Neuter & Return (TNR) of feral cats around settlements and farms in the Cairngorms National Park. This work should help a great deal in reducing the likelihood of feral cats and wildcats interbreeding and producing hybrid offspring. Feral cats taken in for neutering also get screened for potential fatal diseases such as feline leukaemia virus, so by intensifying TNR we may also help to reduce the prevalence of diseases which could seriously harm wildcats. The return of healthy, neutered cats to farms where they were caught means that they can continue their pest control function in the farm buildings without putting at risk the endangered wildcat population in the surrounding countryside. One of the things that was clear from the meeting we had, is that more volunteers will be required to assist with the TNR work so that it can be targetted at areas where wildcats are most at risk. So if you're interested in lending a hand with this, and gaining some valuable wildlife management experience at the same time, then watch this space for further details on how you can apply to be a volunteer.

Scottish Wildcat Survey 2006-08

Sat, 20 May 2010 00:00:01 GMT

The recently published Scottish Wildcat Survey, which was commissioned by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), one of the partners of the Cairngorms Wildcat Project, confirms the Cairngorms National Park as a stronghold for the Scottish wildcat, with other significant occurrences elsewhere in northeastern Scotland and in parts of the western Highlands. The survey report can be downloaded from the SNH website here, although it is a large file and may take a while.

Talk in Ballater on Saturday 22nd

Fri, 19 May 2010 00:00:01 GMT

Just a wee note to say I'll be giving a public talk about the Cairngorms Wildcat Project in Ballater this Saturday at 6pm in the Victoria & Albert Hall. The event is part of the Cairngorms Big Biobuzz Day.