The Scottish Wildcat is the rarest cat in the world; there are only 35 of them left on earth and they are in real danger of extinction. 

A third of these stunning animals live in the publicly owned Clashindarroch Forest in the Scottish Highlands, but they are in danger from logging by the Scottish Government’s Forestry and Land Scotland and by the construction of a windfarm by Vattenfall. 

If the destruction of their natural habitat doesn’t stop immediately, the wildcat will become extinct. We are launching legal action to protect this precious species and need your support. Please contribute now and share this page with your friends, family and on social media. 

Case Background

Wildcat Haven has worked to save the critically endangered Scottish wildcat for the last ten years, establishing threat free haven covering hundreds of square miles in the remote Scottish Highlands.

A huge threat facing wildcats is habitat loss, and nowhere is this clearer than Clashindarroch Forest in Aberdeenshire. At least 13 wildcats live in this forest; that's the largest single population known to exist and could represent as much as a third of the surviving population.

Clashindarroch is publicly owned, and we have been campaigning for its protection since learning that swathes of it are being clear-felled for timber, and planning applications are going in for a vast wind farm site covering a quarter of the forest.

The story has been widely covered in press like The Telegraph, Scotsman and Express, and shared extensively on social media, with a Change.org petition picking up over 500,000 signatures. 

Despite this widespread concern the logging continues, the wind planning goes ahead, and the Scottish Government refuse to even acknowledge the public outrage.

Clashindarroch must be protected, without it there is little evidence that the wildcat can avoid extinction, and the forest also provides a haven for many other endangered and rare species like red squirrel, goshawk and pine marten.

Our legal action 

It can be done, but we need your help to make it happen by bringing legal action to achieve the following;

1. Enforce national and international protections of the wildcat.
2. Establish special designation for the site so the forest can be conserved indefinitely.
3. Stop wildcats being taken from the wild by the government to be put in zoos. 

This is the last stand for a beautiful creature which has survived centuries of persecution and intensive habitat loss; save Clashindarroch and there is clear hope for the future, but without it, the wildcat will almost certainly become extinct in Scotland.

How much we're raising and why

The legal cost of protecting this species is significant. Inititally we will be raising £7,500 to get the various strands of legal action off the ground. But then we need to go on to raise significantly more, potentially up to £100,000.

We will of course keep you updated with all progress in the case and any funds left over will go directly to the ongoing work of Wildcat Haven to protect this beautiful animal in the wild where it belongs. 

There is no time to lose; researchers in the forest have discovered that after a short hiatus whilst the story was in the press, logging has resumed; they are clearing and felling parts of a documented wildcat territory as you read this.

Please help us; donate, share, and follow the campaign at www.facebook.com/ScottishWildcatHaven

THANK YOU!