• Question: Shoud wildcats by protected by the RSPCA as they are endangered?

    Asked by wagwan88 to Scottish Wildcat on 21 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by marie lisowski.
    • Photo: Scottish Wildcat

      Scottish Wildcat answered on 21 Nov 2017:

      Wildcats are already protected by UK law. It is illegal to kill a Scottish Wildcat, but legal to kill feral domestic cats. Some people think it would be better to neuter feral cats, then release them instead of killing them. Gamekeepers usually kill them, because all cats will hunt birds if they can, and on a shooting estate if there are no birds to shoot then there is no employment because the estate gets no income from people who want to go out shooting birds. Fortunately, Scottish Wildcats can survive in areas that are unsuitable for hunting, so they do have a chance of surviving there.

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