Funding boost for Scottish wildcat conservation - Royal Zoological Society of Scotland
A vital partnership to restore Scotland’s wildcat population has received a funding boost, with a £400,000 Scottish Government grant to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
Led by the wildlife conservation charity and based at Highland Wildlife Park, the Saving Wildcats project aims to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered species by breeding and releasing wildcats into the wild.
A report published in 2019 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Cat Specialist Group concluded there is no longer a viable wildcat population living wild in Scotland.
Funding for the project has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the closures of Highland Wildlife Park and Edinburgh Zoo, costing RZSS over £1.5 million.
RZSS has also received an additional £278,000 from the Scottish Government’s zoo and aquarium conservation fund to ensure efforts can continue to protect other threatened native species, including the pine hoverfly, pond mud snail and flapper skate.
Dr Helen Senn, Head of Conservation and Science Programmes at RZSS, said, “Every visit to Highland Wildlife Park and Edinburgh Zoo supports our work to protect threatened species around the world, including on our doorstep in the Cairngorms National Park. The past year has been an incredibly difficult time for our charity, with the closure of our parks for a total of five months cutting off our main source of income. While we still face significant financial pressures, this £678,000 Scottish Government funding to help protect native species and support our work with partners is very welcome.”
Saving Wildcats is a partnership between RZSS, NatureScot, the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Forestry and Land Scotland, as well as European partners Norden’s Ark from Sweden and Spain’s Junta De Andalucía, which have led the successful recovery of the Iberian lynx.
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Posted On: 07/06/2021