New Cairngorms facility to help save Scottish wildcat gets go-ahead
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A NEW facility at the Highland Wildlife Park to support a breeding programme to save Scottish wildcats will be the first of its kind in the UK.
The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) planning committee gave the go-ahead on Friday, September 25, for a set of new enclosures at the Kincraig park.
Scottish wildcats are on the brink of extinction and the enclosures at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland owned park is designed to help boost their numbers as part of the LIFE-funded wildcat reintroduction project.
The development will provide facilities for breeding, veterinary care, remote monitoring and training.
The aim is to eventually release the wildcats into the Cairngorms National Park.
Planning officer Katie Crerar recommended the application for approval.
She said: "The development is perfectly acceptable in this location, with the style and purpose of the project being compatible with what is already happening at the Highland Wildlife Park.
"It is a first for the UK and is the basis for this ambitious conservation effort to save the Scottish wildcat from extinction."
CNPA planning committee members were fully in favour of the development.
It is hoped the enclosures will be ready in time to ensure that kittens reared earlier this year can enter the breeding programme at the wildlife park this winter.
