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The enclosure is scalable - the land is there, and so the more we are able to raise,...
Help us get Finlay back into the wild
United Kingdom
Aim
We need to build a large rehabilitation enclosure to prepare Finlay, the little rescue kitten who is in our care, for release into the wild.
Finlay is a 3 month old kitten, rescued by a couple called John and Angela during the storms in October last year, when he was just a couple of weeks old. He was rescued in the central Scottish highlands, and whilst we can't give exact details of where he was found as the wildcat is a protected species, we can confirm that this is well within the wildcat distribution range. He was placed into Wildcat Haven’s care due to our expertise and experience rearing orphaned wildcats, and little Finlay is rehabilitating wonderfully. We hope to be able to release him back into the wild in the first half of this year. In order for us to give Finlay the best chance of being released into the wild, we need to build him a rehabilitation enclosure where he can acclimatise to nature, dissociate from humans, and learn the hunting and behavioural skills which he will rely on in the wild. And we are asking for your help to do this.
Finlay’s story
John and Angela live in a chalet close to woodland, in the central Scottish Highlands. Whilst chopping wood the day before, John had heard what sounded like a bird, but thought nothing of it. It was only on the next day, when it occurred again that he went to investigate and found a tiny kitten alone and starving. John picked him up & brought him inside for some warmth as hypothermia was a real risk. The little kitten was hiding under some cover, cowering and bedraggled and was, in John’s words, ‘close to death’.
Finlay, very soon after being rescued by John and Angela.
Being knowledgeable about wildcats, it was clear to John and Angela that this was not a domestic kitten and likely a wildcat, so they reached out to Wildcat Haven for advice. Once we had advised on rearing protocols for such a young kitten, and once he was out of immediate danger, we received photos.
We were blown away.
First by the pure beauty of the little guy, but then as we received more images, by the clear and striking wildcat markings. As our team has extensive experience in this area, John and Angela asked us to take on the kitten, and do our best to ensure he grows up to be a healthy animal and to give him the best chance at being released back into the wild. We, of course, accepted.
It is important to say that a wildcat can only be fully pelage (coat marking) scored at about 6 months of age but even at this young age we were seeing extremely strong wildcat signature markings. The body striping is amazing, the dorsal stripe stops at the base of the tail, the tail is ringed and there are clear head stripes. And as he has developed and grown in our care, we’ve seen further encouraging signs - his tail is now thickening up and all of the promising signs from his early days continue to fill us with hope that Finlay is a true wildcat.
Heartbreakingly, it is clear that Finlay’s mum and siblings did not survive. A female wildcat’s maternal instincts are extremely strong and she would never willingly abandon or leave a kitten. There was at least 24 hours between John first hearing the noise and then finding Finlay. A thorough search of the entire area was carried out but no den sites were found, indicating that Finlay had crawled a considerable distance. He would not have done this if he had the option of staying in a den site.
You may rightly ask what happened to Finlay’s siblings.Finlay was found alone but it is highly likely that he would have had siblings, as litter sizes are typically 3 or 4. Finlay would have been born in a den with his siblings and at the age he was found (around 2 to 3 weeks), he would not have been venturing out of the den at all, let alone on his own. Unfortunately it was desperation and hunger that forced him to leave the safety of his den, in a bid to find his mother. It’s heart-breaking to think of the stress, panic and fear he must have experienced as he scrambled around in search of his mother. An extremely thorough search was carried out of the whole area and unfortunately, no more kittens were found. Indeed even the den sites wasn’t found. Unfortunately we can only sadly assume that his siblings died in their den. Perhaps Finlay was the only one strong enough to make it out.
With as few as 35 left in the wild, every individual wildcat counts. And if Finlay is deemed to be a wildcat, he could be vital to the species survival in the wild. Finlay is a fighter and like all of his kind, has an unwavering will to survive. He is now 11 weeks old and ready to start the complex process of returning to the wild.
What’s the next step?
Until now, due to his young age and vulnerability, he has been hand reared by two of our team members with decades worth of experience in this area. No one else from the team has seen him in an effort to reduce human contact as much as possible.
As Finlay grows older, and continues his remarkable development and rehabilitation, we need to start preparing for his release into the wild. We of course want to give him the best possible chance of his return home being a success. We want to build Finlay a large rehabilitation enclosure where he can learn to hunt, use den sites and gradually lose his reliance on humans. Without this it will be impossible for him to learn and develop the vital skills he will need to survive in the wild.
To be clear, this is not a zoo cage On public view. We want to build him a real habitat which is large, diverse and stimulating. The enclosure will contain multiple dens sites, different areas of natural vegetation, a fence that will allow mice and voles to move through it which will crucially enable Finlay to practice hunting wild prey. We also want to fit a CCTV system so that we can monitor his behaviour remotely and assess when he is ready for his release.
We have the perfect spot where he will be away from people and can become wild again. The size of the enclosure built will depend purely on the funds raised - the more funds, the bigger the enclosure. Our team has considerable experience building rehabilitation enclosures for a range of species and will bring this knowledge to the design of Finlay’s facility. This enclosure will not just help Finlay, but also any future orphaned wildcat kittens that are found, so will be a crucial facility for future rescues.
Thank you
We are extremely grateful for all of the help and support we receive. Building a large scale enclosure is a major undertaking but after all that he has been through and the bravery he has shown, Finlay deserves to be given the best chance of returning to the wild.
Thank you.
This project successfully funded on 9th February 2021