Native Wild Cats Uk

Britain has only one species of native cat the European wildcat.

Native wild cats uk. It is estimated to comprise between 1000 and 4000 individuals of which about 400 cats are thought to meet the morphological and genetic criteria of a wildcat. A number of exotic breeds are being hybridised with domestic cats to create wild-looking pets with docile temperaments eg. For a detailed look at alien small cats ASCs in Britain and their potential for interbreeding with the Scottish Wildcat or domestic cats see Domestic X Wildcat Hybrids in Britain.

The Scottish wildcat is a European wildcat population in Scotland. The Scottish wildcat was once widely distributed across Great Britain but the population has declined drastically since the turn of the 20th. Europe is a continent bordered by the Arctic Ocean Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

They were last seen in England around 1800 and can now only be found in the wilds of Scotland hence their alternative name the Scottish wildcat. Wild Ireland Lynx. Dont be misled by the term wildcat.

In 1903 the body of a Canadian lynx was donated to Bristol Museum. European wildcats were once widespread in Britain. The jaguar is a solitary wild cat and normally lives and hunts alone.

Jaguars normally hunt on the ground but will also climb trees and pounce on their prey from above. They are therefore one of our native cats along with the long-extinct lynx. These predators are not domestic cats which have become feral.

Now confined to the Scottish highlands wild cats disappeared from southern England in the 16th century with the last one recorded in northern England being shot in 1849. Wild cats are solitary territorial animals. They arrived by themselves back when Britain was still connected to the continent by a land bridge up until around 8000 years ago.