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Just in time for International Cat Day, Forestry and Land Scotland have released new footage showing what appears to be a Scottish wildcat hunting alongside its kitten, spotted using a thermal imaging drone in what is considered to be a first in Scotland.
The technology is currently being used to help survey deer populations in the Angus Glens but the trial managed to catch sight of the critically endangered wildcats hunting among fallen trees.
The technique makes use of a drone-mounted thermal camera to more easily find well camouflaged animals in the wild, providing they give off a heat signature. Once located, the feed can switch to a daylight camera and use a powerful optical zoom to get a high-quality image of the subject.
By marrying up the imagery with GIS data, land managers are able to build up an in-depth
understanding of wildlife populations to support population management activity. In a repeat success, the same techniques were then used to film another potential wildcat in Glen Doll.
The Angus Glens footage, thought to be important to future wildcat research, was caught by contractors BH Wildlife Consultancy, which works alongside Forestry and Land Scotland.
Ben Harrower, director of BH Wildlife Consultancy, said: “Capturing images of any animal the size of a cat in the wild would be next to impossible without the benefit of the thermal camera but once you have a target in-frame, it’s easy enough to then track and film them.”
The Forestry service says that the high-quality images obtained by the drone will allow researchers to assess physical characteristics to determine whether the cats are likely wildcats, hybrids or feral domestic cats.
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Although it’s likely that most wildcats found in Scotland are hybrids – other than those released into the Cairngorms through the Saving Wildcats project – conservationists work on the precautionary principle that any suitably marked cats could be wildcats, and manage the forests accordingly.
Gareth Ventress, FLS Environment Forester, said: “This footage is really exciting to see and illustrates the potential of this technique in aiding conservation efforts, particularly for critically endangered species.
“We have been working with BH Wildlife Consultancy for about three years on deer surveys and the results have been phenomenally successful in helping us to refine our deer management work. It’s also been useful in helping us to build our understanding of feral goats and feral wild boar populations.”
