In the opinion of a simple layman, these cats, which are in the photographs below, are ordinary gray-striped cats, which are full in our yards.
In fact, these are rare and endangered wild forest cats, or rather their Scottish variety.
Recently, the Edinburgh Zoo announced the birth of two wild kittens. The babies were born back in April, but the other day they were finally settled in a public enclosure.
Each kitten of this species is registered, as in the future they will join the feral cat breeding program and be released into the wild. The biggest threat to the number of Scottish wildcats comes from crossbreeding with domestic cats, and therefore it is so important that a sufficiently large number of individuals with “pure blood” be preserved in nature.
“In recent decades, the number of feral cats in the forests of Scotland has been greatly reduced. Now there are only about 115 individuals, which makes them one of the rarest mammals in the UK,” says David Barclay, “Our breeding program and work with partners from the national project” Scottish Wildcat Action” is vital”.
Forest cats (Felis Silvestris) are very similar to ordinary tabby cats, but this is because all domestic cats about 9-10 thousand years ago descended from one of the groups of forest cats that roamed continental Europe, Africa and Asia.
Wildcats tend to be slightly larger than domestic cats (especially males) and adults have short, thick tails with a blunt, stubbed tip. The striped color (tabby) is very clear and the legs are without white spots.
