The British Wildlife Centre Collection

Wild Cat - Felis silvestris

British Wildlife Centre
Britain's only wild member of the cat family bears a close resemblance to the domestic tabby, but it is more striped and has a bushier, blunt-ended tail marked with thick black rings. Now confined to the Scottish highlands, wild cats disappeared from southern England in the 16th century; the last one recorded in northern England was shot in 1849.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act gives strict legal protection to wild cats and their dens. They are easily confused with 'feral' cats, which are domestic cats living wild, of which there are about 900,000 in Britain today.

Unfortunately the two species also interbreed to give hybrids, which makes it extremely difficult to define the genetic purity of a wildcat.

The wild cat has suffered considerable decline in population and is now considered at serious risk of extinction in this country.


Wild Cat (Felis silvestris) (Photo: Dot Lines)

British Distribution

  British Distribution
Origin: Native
Size: Head / body length average about 56 cm;
Tail about 29 cm.
Description: Grey / brown fur with dark stripes;
Thick tail with black rings and blunt tip
Habitat: Varied, on the edge of moor land, with pasture, scrub and forests in Scotland, north of Edinburgh and Glasgow, but not on the islands. In winter, bad weather drives them down into more sheltered wooded valleys
Young: 1 litter of 3 - 4 kittens in May after 68 day gestation period. They are born with hair but are blind and deaf. Eyes open after 9 days and they emerge from the den at 4 - 5 weeks old. They accompany their mother on hunting trips after 10 - 12 weeks. Second litters occasionally occur in August
Nest Make lairs in a fox’s earth, under tree trunks, in hollow trees, in bracken or in a deserted buzzard’s nest
Diet: Rabbits, hares, small mammals and game birds.
Population: Pre-breeding season estimated to be no more than 2,000; some estimates even lower, and extinction is considered likely.

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