Artists move to save Scottish Wildcat

The Scottish wildcat is Britain’s very own critically endangered wild feline with less than 400 individuals left in the wild. Whilst Government is working out what to do about the problem an unexpected mixture of film-makers, writers, sculptors and photographers, united by their interest in the species, have started working towards its conservation. Artists ranging from legendary authors to cutting edge film-makers are teaming with a new charity, the Scottish Wildcat Association, to bring public attention and much-needed funds to Scotland’s infamous wildcats. Private, solitary, wary and

elusive, these 400 cats are top of every wildlife watcher’s list of must-see British mammals but could be gone within a decade.

This recent surge of creative interest began with the independent documentary film Last of the Scottish Wildcats. On a tiny budget, award-winning British film-makers Coffee Films produced only the second complete film on the species in 2007. Including new wild footage and in-depth investigation of the threats facing the wildcat, the film is available on DVD with Coffee Films pledging 50% of their profits to the Scottish Wildcat Association. “Public awareness is so essential,” explains director/producer Steve Piper, “the greatest threat to the wildcat is that very few people outside of the Highlands realise they’re even there, and only handfuls of them fully understand the threats to the wildcat or how to help.”

Scottish wildcats were first brought to wide attention in the 1970s by naturalist Mike Tomkies in his books My Wilderness Wildcats and Liane, a Cat from the Wild. A uniquely outspoken, passionate, committed and brutally honest personality in natural history writing, Mike left a life as a high-flying Hollywood journalist and spent over a decade with only his dog and the local wildlife for company seven miles from the nearest road in the Highlands.

Out of print for some time, public demand inspired Mike and his publisher to put the two books back into print as one updated edition, Wildcat Haven, with a share of profits to the SWA, which Mike is also a patron of. “They're shy, they're clever, they move silently and they would fight to the death for their freedom; they epitomise what it takes to be truly free I think” comments Mike. “Wildcat remains were found in Scotland in Pleistocene deposits over 2 million years old, they co-existed with the mammoth, the lynx and the wolf. They’re gone now but the wildcat is clinging on and we must protect it.”