A windfarm in Aberdeenshire has announced plans to appoint a mammal expert to help support the wildcat population around Clashindarroch Forest.
Clashindarroch II Onshore Wind Farm want a Wildcat Project Officer to oversee the creation and improvement of habitats for Scottish wildcat locally, as well as a programme to protect wildcat populations and reduce interbreeding with feral domestic cats through a licenced trap, neuter, vaccinate and release initiative.
The role will run for at least the next five years, fully funded by the windfarm, but will be overseen by an independent advisory group.
NatureScot will also be invited onto the panel of independent ecological experts and the new member of staff will also be tasked with education stakeholders on wildcat ecology, as well as enabling the local community around the forest to learn more about the animal.
Workshops and model dens will be part of that work in a bid to increase understanding about the animal.
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Robin Cox, Environmental Specialist at Vattenfall said: “We are looking for someone truly passionate about the future of the Scottish wildcat to fill this new role, which will be based locally in and around Huntly, Aberdeenshire.
“We design our wind farms very carefully, not just to reduce carbon emissions but also to help protect and enhance wildlife and nature. By creating new habitats and improving connectivity, the work intends to open up new areas for the Scottish wildcat to roam and breed.”
The Scottish wildcat was once widely spread out across the UK but habitat loss and persecution has led to that population dropping dramatically, and they are now largely only found in northern and eastern Scotland.
It is listed as critical endangered and is thought to be functionally extinct in the wild, having previously been considered vermin and killed in a bid to protect game bird species.
They have since been given protected status under the UK’s wildlife and countryside act 1981 and have been listed as a priority species since 2007.
Earlier this year, two wildcats who had been born in captivity died after being released into the wild. They were part of a project that saw nine released this year, and 19 in 2023.
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