TRUE wildcats are alive and well and living in Scotland, say British
geneticists. The researchers have shown that there is still a distinct Scottish
population of wildcats, dispelling fears that interbreeding with domestic cats
has fatally compromised the wildcat鈥檚 independent existence in Scotland.
The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) lives in woodland
all over Europe, but in Britain it only survives in Scotland. The domestic cat
is descended from the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica).
African and European wildcats diverged from their common ancestor more than
20,000 years ago.
To study the effect of interbreeding, Mark Beaumont of the University of
Reading and his colleagues analysed the genetic fingerprints of 230 wild
Scottish cats and 74 domestic cats from England and Scotland. They found that
although there are many hybrid cats living in the wild, there is a genetically
distinct group of wildcats that haven鈥檛 interbred recently with domestic
cats.
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鈥淭he extent of hybridisation in Scotland seems to be peculiar,鈥� says
Beaumont. Italian wildcats show little evidence of hybridisation. But Scottish
wildcats were persecuted by gamekeepers in the 19th and early 20th centuries and
nearly became extinct.
Male wildcats wander around looking for a mate, and when females are scarce
they breed with feral domestic cats. Despite this, the wildcat survives as
distinct species. There are now about 3500 living in the Highlands of Scotland.
鈥淚t鈥檚 comforting that the wildcat hasn鈥檛 been hybridised out of existence,鈥� says
research team member Andrew Kitchener of the National Museums of Scotland.
Wildcats are now protected, but convicting people who kill them depends on
proving that the victim was a wildcat, and not a hybrid or a feral tabby. It
takes an expert to tell them apart. The new work shows that wildcats can be
reliably identified by their genetic fingerprints. 鈥淲e鈥檙e well on the way to
having a genetic test that will help us identify wildcats,鈥� says Kitchener.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 excellent news and should help the conservation of the wildcat,鈥� says
Callum Rankin, European species officer at WWF International.