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.

Two wildcats born in captivity found dead after release into Cairngorms National Park

The two cats were found dead shortly after their release.

Wildcat on tree
One of the wildcats was hit by a vehicle while the other died of starvation. Image: Saving Wildcats.

Two “vulnerable” wildcats have been found dead shortly after being released into the Cairngorms.

Saving Wildcats confirmed the female captive-bred wildcats were released into the Cairngorms National Park this summer.

They were two of nine animals involved in the project, following on from the release of 19 wildcats last year.

However, the latest release has proved to be “significantly more challenging”.

The conservation partnership said one of the animals was found hit by a vehicle while the other died of starvation.

The first was a female wildcat named Midge who was found by Cairngorms National Park rangers on an early morning patrol.

Midge had been hit by a vehicle the night before and suffered fatal injuries.

Wildcats had ‘unexpected’ death in Cairngorms

Dr Keri Langridge, who is part of the Saving Wildcats team, said: “This was very bad luck – we expected our first road mortality to be on the A9 or one of the larger trunk roads, not on a minor road at midnight.

“Midge was doing well before this and had a stomach full of voles and mice.”

The second cat, named Oats, died of starvation around four weeks after her release.

Cat lying on road with collar round neck
The two cats were found dead shortly after their release. Image: Saving Wildcats

Saving Wildcats said their team, who track the cats with GPS-radio collars, went to look for the cat and found she had not moved.

The area she was in was unlikely to have enough prey to feed on, and despite leaving out food for the cat, Oats had not returned.

Dr Helen Senn, the project leader of Saving Wildcats, said: “Although we prepare the wildcats for release in the best way possible, life in the wild is incredibly challenging for all animals.

“Immediately after release they are particularly vulnerable as they learn to adapt to their new life in the wild, to locate themselves in their environment, to learn about threats, and to become efficient hunters.

“Nobody is more saddened by the loss of these animals than the people working with them, because a lot of care is put into providing each released animal with the best chance possible.”

Conversation