Little kitten Huntleigh's legacy lives on

A project to save the Scottish Wildcat from extinction in the wild has welcomed a generous £9,000 donation from a Strathspey fundraiser who rescued a hybrid wildcat kitten.

Peter Macnab discovered the tiny kitten with his friend Piotr Peretko, by Huntly's cave north of Grantown in January.

He set up a community fundraising page to support the conservation project after the cat, which he named Huntleigh, sadly passed away.

Mr Macnab has handed over the amazing total to Saving Wildcats.

The pair found Huntleigh freezing to death and carried her three miles back to Grantown for treatment but she died the next day. Their efforts made the news around the world.

David Barclay, Saving Wildcats ex-situ conservation manager, said: “We are really grateful for this amazing community support and Peter’s incredible fundraising efforts which will help secure a future for Scotland’s wildcats.

"Together we can restore this iconic species by bringing together national and international expertise to breed and release wildcats into the wild.

“Our Highland tigers are on the brink of extinction and interbreeding with domestic cats, known as hybridisation, is a major threat to their survival.”

“After genetic testing, we established Huntleigh had around 30 per cent wildcat DNA.

"These results have been added to the national database, meaning this little kitten has helped supported wildcat conservation in Scotland.”

The Saving Wildcats partnership is led by RZSS in collaboration with NatureScot, Forestry and Land Scotland, The Cairngorms National Park Authority, Norden’s Ark and Junta de Andalucía.

It is hoped that the first young wildcats breed and reared at a new wildcat centre at the RZSS' Highland Wildlife Park by Kincraig – created to save the species from extinction in the wild – could be released in the region next year.

There could be as few as 30 to 200 remaining pure Scottish wildcats remaining in the wild with Badenoch and Strathspey their last remaining stronghold.

Anyone who thinks they spot a wildcat in the strath can send an image with more information of the sighting image to wildcats@rzss.org.uk

Donations to help save Scotland’s wildcats are welcome at savingwildcats.org.uk

Huntleigh the wildcat passes away

Wildcat kitten found freezing to death

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