Scottish Wildcat Association

The Scottish Wildcat Association is a charity founded in 2008 by filmmaker Steve Piper with the aims of conserving the Scottish wildcat,[1][2] which is critically endangered in the UK. Threatened by hybridisation with feral domestic cats, recent estimates have suggested that only 35 pure Scottish wildcats exist in the wild, with no pure Scottish wildcats in captivity.[3][4][5]

The charity raised awareness of the wildcat considerably through strong media engagement,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] and established the first fieldwork project directly aimed at conserving the species in Scotland in the West Highlands. The project was set up as a Community Interest Company and named Wildcat Haven after a book by Mike Tomkies,[17] patron and an Honourable Lifelong Member of the project.

Including genetics research, field surveys, engagement with local communities, radio collaring, feline disease surveys and feral cat neutering and health checks, the project was designed in consultation with a range of world leading experts designed to study the wildcat at a uniquely high level of detail whilst carrying out comprehensive, long term and geographically modular conservation actions.[18]

The charity is currently in the process of winding down since the establishment of the independent Wildcat Haven project, dedicated to the fieldwork project.[19] It was recently publicly launched with the announcement that the project had successfully removed feral cats from a remote 250 square mile peninsula, Ardnamurchan, through a humane neutering methodology, and planned further expansion.[20][21][22]