Saving Wildcats has captured the first-ever footage of a wildcat giving birth on camera.  

The rare footage was recorded at the project’s conservation breeding for release centre based at Highland Wildlife Park in the Cairngorms. The project led by the wildlife conservation charity the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), hopes this footage will provide valuable information into wildcat behaviours and help improve care and management of future litters.  

Saving Wildcats team leader Estelle Morgan said: “Having a birth captured on camera is an incredible resource for wildcat conservation. For the first time we can closely study the behaviour of a wildcat during labour and immediately after birth."  

“Every new piece of knowledge helps us better understand how to support our breeding programme and strengthens our efforts to recover this Critically Endangered species.”

The mother Skye gave birth to two healthy kittens bringing the breeding centre’s total number of newborn kittens in 2026 to seven. The births also mark the fifth consecutive year of successful breeding at the Saving Wildcats breeding for release centre.  

The kittens are expected to be eligible for release into the wild in 2027, joining the growing reintroduced population in the Cairngorms National Park. 

Estelle Morgan added: “A decade ago, births like these would have been hard to imagine. Now, we have kittens that may one day go on to raise families of their own in the wild, while this remarkable footage is helping us learn more about how to support future generations. It’s incredibly rewarding and gives us real hope for the future of Scotland’s wildcats.” 

For the next six to eight months the kittens will live alongside their parents learning necessary life skills such as stalking, pouncing and navigating their environment. They will be transferred into specially designed pre-release enclosures to further prepare for the challenges of life in the wild. This structure aims to mimic natural dispersal behaviours of wildcats.  

In the centre, wildcats are monitored using a state-of-the-art remote camera system, enabling animal keepers to observe both the mothers and their newborn kittens with minimal disturbance. The cameras capture footage of female wildcats caring for their young in secluded den boxes, providing valuable insights into the natural behaviours of these elusive animals.  

People can sponsor wildcats including Skye in the project’s centre to help support the return of the Critically Endangered wildcat to Scotland savingwildcats.org.uk/sponsor