Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The earth is currently undergoing a sixth mass extinction primarily caused by humans. Several species are affected, and the Scottish wildcat is one of these species. The Scottish wildcat is a subpopulation of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris) in Scotland and is critically endangered. The Scottish wildcat was once widespread all over Britain. The reason for their decline has previously been hunting and deforestation/habitat destruction. Nowadays the threat for hunting has passed, however a new threat has risen. The domestic cat (Felis catus) is the current largest threat to the wildcat population. There are multiple problems associated with the domestic cat for the wildcats. They are competitors for natural resources and bring new diseases to the wildcat populations. However, the biggest problem they cause is hybridisation. The hybridisation corrupts the genetic diversity and may cause the extinction of the species if no solution is found. Because of these threats multiple zoos have started conservational effort to prevent the species extinction. The zoos are keeping the species in captivity and breeding them for later reintroduction to the wild. However not a lot is known about the wildcats’ hunting behaviours. In this study, two different enrichments were used to identify and promote these behaviours and increase the welfare of captive wildcats. Each enrichment opportunity was filmed and evaluated. Because the hunting behaviours of the Scottish wildcat aren´t well known, no conclusions concerning hunting behaviours were drawn. However, the activity levels were considered raised with the enrichments. The activity levels successively decreased over time and number of enrichment occasions. This study is hopefully a start in identifying the wildcats’ behaviours and implementing these in the conservational work of the species.