Cat - Scottish Wild Cat with kitten, Highland Wildlife Park - postcard c.1990s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Adult male Scottish wild cat and kitten photographed at the Highland Wildlife Park, Inverness-shire
• Publisher:  Phil Banks Photography, c.1980s or 1990s
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

------------------------------------------------

Postage & Packing:

Postage and packing charge should be showing for your location (contact if not sure).

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. Please wait for combined invoice. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

Outside UK: PayPal ONLY (unless otherwise stated) please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

----------------------------------------------

Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

*************

The European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) is a subspecies of the wildcat that inhabits the forests and grasslands of Europe, as well as Turkey and the Caucasus Mountains. It has been extirpated from Scandinavia, England, and Wales and numbers in Scotland are critically low. Some authorities restrict F. s. silvestris to populations of the European mainland, in which case populations of Scotland, Mediterranean islands, Turkey, and Caucasus are regarded as separate subspecies.

In appearance the European wildcat is much bulkier than the African wildcat and the domestic cat, although its weight is similar to the average house cat, as males of the species weigh an average of 5 kg (11 lb) and females 3.5 kg (7.7 lb), with strong seasonal weight fluctuations of up to 2.5 kg (5.5 lb).^[2] The wildcat's thick fur, size, and non-tapered tail are its distinguishing traits; it normally would not be mistaken for the domestic cat, although in practice, it is less clear whether the two are frequently distinguished correctly, as one study showed an error rate of 39%.^[3] Predominantly nocturnal, the wildcat is active in the daytime in the absence of human disturbance.^[2]

Wildcats were common in the European Pleistocene era; when the ice vanished, they became adapted to a life in dense forests. They also live in grasslands.^[4] In most European countries, they have become very rare. Although legally protected, they are still shot by people mistaking them for feral domestic cats. In the Scottish Highlands, where approximately 400 were thought to remain in the wild in 2004, interbreeding with feral cats is a significant threat to the wild population's distinctiveness.^[5] Although Spain and Portugal are the West European countries with the greatest population of wild cats, the animals in these region are threatened by breeding with feral cats and loss of habitat. The easternmost populations, in Ukraine, Moldova, and the Caucasus, have low levels of domestic cat hybridization.^[3]

Scotland

In 2012, conservationists reported discovering previously unknown populations of Scottish wildcats living in the Cairngorms National Park, but still threatened because of crossbreeding with domestic and feral cats. The scientists reported 465 potential sightings,^[6][7][8] in response, the Scottish Wildcat Association refuted the claims stating in their website, social networks, and press interviews that the sightings were defined as hybrid crossbreeds by leading experts, and that the wildcat population was likely well below 100 individuals.^[9]

In September 2012, following a review of 2,000 records of camera trap sightings, eyewitness reports, and road kills, the Scottish Wildcat Association (SWA) warned that Scottish wildcats could be extinct in the wild within months, their analysis suggesting that the number of pure-bred cats had fallen to approximately 35 individuals.^[10] A severe reduction of rabbit populations due to myxomatosis has hastened the wildcat's decline.^[4] In March 2013, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland said it encouraged collection of biological material, but that cloning would be considered only after ""all other avenues have been exhausted.""^[11]

In September 2013, the Aspinall Foundation announced plans to develop an in-situ captive breeding centre on the island of CÃ rna, off the West coast of Scotland at Ardnamurchan,^[12] a peninsula where the Scottish Wildcat Association had developed their Wildcat Haven^[13] project to identify pure, un-hybridised Scottish wildcats and neuter feral cats under the management of Dr. Paul O'Donoghue,^[14] who would work across both projects using a genetic test he had researched to identify hybridisation in Scottish wildcats.^[15]

The news was followed by an SNH announcement that after a year of consultation they were to launch a new wildcat action plan taking a more ""pragmatic""^[16] approach that would conserve wildcats and hybrids exhibiting wildcat features using a relaxed definition of the wildcat.^[17] Steve Piper, founder and former chairman of the Scottish Wildcat Association, author of the Wildcat Haven project, and a former consultant to the SNH action plan responded that the approach was a ""shameful effort"" that would force the pure Scottish wildcat into extinction.^[16][18][19]

In July 2014 the Wildcat Haven project announced the successful neutering of feral and hybrid cats across 250 square miles of the West Highlands, creating a protected zone for the pure Scottish wildcat.^[20][21]

type=printed

animal subject=cat

period=post-war (1945 - present)

postage condition=unposted

number of items=single

size=continental/ modern (150x100mm)

county/ country=inverness-shire