Fifty wildcats back in the Highlands — and kittens born wild for the third year running

Fifty Scottish wildcats now roam the Highlands. The Saving Wildcats partnership, led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, hit the landmark after releasing four more cats this summer into the Cairngorms — and the real magic is what's happening on its own: females have given birth in the wild for three consecutive years, meaning the population is beginning to establish itself naturally. The species remains critically endangered in Scotland, and this summer's wildfires scorched known wildcat habitat. But as Dr Sarah Henshall of the Cairngorms National Park Authority put it, 'to have released fifty wildcats in four years is a monumental step for the recovery of this iconic Scottish species.' Next: more releases, including cats bred with Spanish wildcats — their closest living genetic relatives — to deepen the gene pool.