- Most of the cats living in the wild in Scotland are hybrid cats with a mix of wildcat and domestic cat ancestry or feral domestic cats.
- But my team’s new study showed they lived alongside domestic cats for almost 2,000 years before interbreeding.
- Habitat loss and hunting are two of the biggest threats facing this species across its range, but in Scotland, hybridisation with domestic cats is now the biggest threat to this population.
How long has this been going on?
- Although domestic cats and wildcats are different species, genetically more different than dogs and wolves, they look similar.
- Domestic cats, descended from the African-Asian wildcat, became widespread in Britain in Roman times.
What changed?
- Wildcats have been hunted for sport, and are also persecuted as a pest species which keeps their numbers down.
- The 20th century also saw a rise in domestic cat ownership, which is now at an all-time high in the UK.
- The hybrid population showed genetic patterns suggesting they are developing immunity to these diseases, with the help of genes inherited from domestic cat parents.
- Without intervention, the few wildcats that remain will interbreed with domestic cats and the wildcat genome will contribute a fraction of a percent to the domestic cat genome.
Does this matter?
- Conservationists are debating the level of risk this poses to wildlife populations, and the best course of action for conservation management.
- However, the consequences of hybridisation are unpredictable, and it is hard to come up with a solution that works for every case.
What next for wildcats?
- First established in 1960, founders of this population largely predate the onset of hybridisation in Scotland.
- A wildcat conservation breeding for release programme is conducted by Saving Wildcats, a partnership led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.
- Monitoring the newly released cats will give us vital insights about how to protect species like the wildcat.
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Joanna Howard-McCombe received funding from NERC, the RZSS and the People's Trust for Endangered Species. Mark Beaumont received funding from NERC. Daniel J. Lawson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
