Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Wildcats set for international stardom after being included in National Geographic Photo Ark

Two fortunate Highland wildcats saved after becoming orphans are rising to international stardom, having been watched online more than half a million times – and now starring in National Geographic.

The kittens are stars in a photoshoot by renowned wildlife photographer Joel Sartore, with the images being selected to feature in the National Geographic’s Photo Ark.

The tiny rare animals were rescued by conservation group Wildcat Haven last month after being spotted by a member of the public near to a busy road in the north Cairngorms, with their mother absent.

The brother and sister duo have settled into their new surroundings at the rehabilitation centre in the West Highlands, where they have been given over an acre of natural habitat and experience minimal human contact.

Hidden cameras have captured the animals in their new habitat, including having a meal on a rabbit.

And now Mr Sartore has photographed the orphaned wildcats, saying: “I first heard about Scottish wildcats 20 years ago running some photography workshops in Scotland, and even then everyone said they were impossible to shoot.

“Now there’s only about 35 left so Wildcat Haven have two of the rarest felines in the world in their care and they will soon release back to the wild.

“It was an incredible opportunity to come in and see this cat up close and tell the world about it.

“The facilities here at the Highland Titles Nature Reserve are first rate, those little kittens have over an acre to roam around in and that’s going to prepare them well for returning to the wild.”

The Wildcats have featured on Mr Sartore’s and the National Geographic’s Instagram accounts where they are now being displayed to a potential audience of over 90 million people.

In the past year, a petition has been launched for the protection of the species with over 340,000 signing the cause to protect the Scottish wildcat as it teeters on the edge of extinction.

Mr Satore added: “The Photo Ark at its heart is an effort to educate people, and to get them to care about the extinction crisis. We could lose half of all species on this planet by 2100, and it’s folly to think we can doom half of everything else to extinction and not have it affect humanity; it’s going to affect us profoundly.”