The iconic animal was seen on Mull, in the inner Hebrides, which is about 1 mile (1.6km) from the mainland. There have been unconfirmed sightings on the island before but experts said that the photograph above, taken by holidaymaker Peter Harris, gave the clearest picture yet. There are thought to be only about 400 pure wildcats and 3,500 hybrid wildcats left in Scotland.
Mr Harris, 34, spotted the carnivore near the Glengorm Estate, in the north of the island, while he was visiting with his wife last week.
He said: “I noticed it crouching in the undergrowth silhouetted against the dried grass and I was pretty sure straight away that it was a wildcat because I had seen them at the wildlife park at Kingussie and I saw the thick black stripe on its back and its bushy tail.“We pulled over and got out of the car and I could see it cleaning itself.
There was a ditch between the road and the grass verge where it was sitting so it didn’t seem too alarmed when I went nearer to take photos and watched me with a rather wary eye.
“We were incredibly lucky because it stayed there for about ten minutes before turning round and slinking off into the undergrowth.
“I feel very privileged to have seen it because it is a truly magnificent and iconic Scottish animal.”
Steve Piper, of the Scottish Wildcat Association, said that he was surprised to find that one of the animals had made it to the island.
There are no bridges linking Mull to the mainland but it could have swum from the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, which is about a mile from Mull at its narrowest point.
Mr Piper said: “It could have got there by swimming. They are pretty decent swimmers, though it seems a long way for a cat to get all the way over to Mull. Wildcats are not scared of water like a domestic cat. “From the photos it’s not necessarily a pure wildcat, but it has very nice markings and that rough coat and that wild sort of look to it and the thick tail.
“It’s very helpful to get photos of sightings because we really don’t know too much about where they live.”
Wildcats are afraid of humans so it is unlikely that the hybrid stowed away on a ferry.
Mr Piper said the other option was that it had been found in the wild as a kitten and handed to Cats Protection to rehome as hybrid kittens look like domestic kittens. Their true identity only emerges when they are older.
Mr Piper now hopes to take a team to the island to investigate the sighting.
Wildcats look like large muscular tabbies, but can be distinguished by their rough coat with distinctive tiger stripe markings, thick tail with black rings and a black stripe along the back, extending onto the tail.
Nicknamed the Highland tiger, the endangered predators live mainly in the Highlands, north of the industrial belt formed by Glasgow and Edinburgh.
They were once found across the British mainland, but the destruction of their habitats and interbreeding with domestic cats has led to a dramatic drop in population.
In the Cairngorms National Park scientists have launched a ground-breaking study to trace the movements of the animal using specialist equipment including motion detectors, infra-red technology and camera traps.
The scientists hope that pictures from the camera traps will provide vital information about the cat’s habits, which, in the long run, could save it from extinction.
The Times:3-5-10
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