The Scottish wildcat is one of the most endangered mammals in Britain, with hybridization with domestic cats and habitat loss reducing the pure wildcat population to critically low numbers.
Pure Scottish wildcats surviving in remote Highland areas face the welfare challenge of small population size and limited availability of suitable mates, requiring long-range movements that expose them to road traffic and human disturbance. Wildcats in areas overlapping with feral cat populations face habitat competition and hybridization pressure that erodes their genetic identity. Supporting the Saving Wildcats reintroduction program and its habitat preparation work provides welfare benefit by establishing recovering populations in suitable landscapes with reduced hybridization risk.