RETURN OF A LEGEND

Once teetering on the very brink of extinction, the elusive Scottish wildcat is prowling the Highlands once more, thanks to a bit of help

- Words by ANNA LEVIN

AT THE EDGE OF A woodland, on top of a silver birch stump, a feline sits and licks its paws.

For a creature described as ‘near mythical’, it looks surprisingly familiar. At first glance I see a large, thickset tabby cat.

Then it turns, draping a long, luxurious tail along the birch trunk. The tail is thick and broad, ringed with clear black strips that culminate in a blunt tip. As it stands and stretches, I clock the substantial paws and the impressive ratio of tail to cat. A glance in my direction reveals a stern expression and a quiet charisma – an intense gaze from striking pale-green eyes.

I'm watching from a hide at Aigas Field Centre in the Scottish Highlands. Conservation manager Louis Schöpp enters the enclosure and ties some dead chicks to a rail. The cat bats them playfully before snatching them down and returning to its post to feed. To minimise disturbance, we retreat from the hide and move some distance away to talk.

“Those eyes!” I say, feeling slightly starstruck from my first encounter with a wildcat.

We've been watching Coll, who is certainly mature at 10 years old. Six other wildcats are in large, secluded enclosures a little further away. These cats won’t be released into the wild, Louis explains, but their offspring might be. Aigas is part of the UK’s conservation breeding programme - a coalition of organisations, zoos, wildlife parks and private collections throughout the UK. The programme supports Saving Wildcats, a partnership that breeds wildcats for release, to save the species in the wild.