Help us bring the Wildcats back to Britain

The European Wildcat is the rarest mammal and the only native cat species surviving in Britain. Currently, the only wild population of these rare cats live in the remote Scottish Highlands, but that population has been declared “functionally extinct”.

Our aim is to create the first British population of Wildcats outside of Scotland since the 1800’s. The species disappeared from England and Wales over a century ago because of persecution during a time when all predators, including Wildcats, were considered as vermin.

With your help, we can begin to establish a self-sustaining Wildcat population in areas where they once would have thrived.

A healthy population of Wildcats in the wild, will help to restore the balance in the ecosystem by controlling numbers of prey animals, such as rabbits and rodents, and predators such as foxes through competition for food.
 

We must act now to save this species from total extinction in Britain.

All funds raised will help us to build a new breeding facility for the reintroduction of these rare cats. We are aiming to build 10 additional breeding enclosures at a cost of £50,000.

Each enclosure will house a breeding pair of cats, which will produce healthy kittens each year for release back into the wild.

As the breeding season for the cats is between January and March, we need to start building this summer. The facilities will be built at both of our parks, in Kent and at Escot in Devon.

This is one part of a long term project to restore these amazing cats to the wild. Wildwood, in partnership with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Vincent Wildlife Trust, along with the University of Exeter, are undertaking research into the best sites for their reintroduction. The team will ensure the needs and views of local communities are taken into full account during this project.

This is a long term commitment and this breeding facility could support a 10 to 20 year project to create a viable and self-sustaining heathy population of cats in the wild.

Help us return this beautiful species back to the wild by donating today.

If we exceed our target, any additional funds raised will go towards the Wildcats continued care and enrichment, and will also help to support ongoing research and development to ensure the Wildcats successful repopulation into the wild.