Den skotska vildkatten (Felis silvestris silvestris) : sociala interaktioner och hägnutnyttjande hos två individer på Nordens Ark

Abstract: The Scottish wildcat is a population of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) living in Scotland. The population has been on a constant decline, and it now needs help to recover. The biggest threat is that they mate with our domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) and create hybrids. The hope is that with the help from the project Saving Wildcats the populations can grow strong again. Nordens Ark in Sweden is one of the zoological parks that works with Saving Wildcats and it’s in this park the study was performed. The study objects were two individuals, one female and one male. The aim of the study was to observe them and map out how they used their enclosure and if they interacted with each other. They were observed three times a day, at morning, lunch and afternoon, for 10 days during April 2021. The results showed that the female utilized a total of 24 out of 27 zones while the male used 16 and that her distribution in the use of the enclosure was much larger. Most of the activity happened during the morning observations. When it came to social interactions a total of 100 interactions were observed, with the most common being “approach/pass by relaxed” (36%), “sit/lay close” (32%) and “avoid” (19%). The female was observed performing a behaviour similar to pacing. One conclusion was that the female was much more active than the male and not as timid and therefor utilized more of the enclosure. The social interactions were mostly positive which could indicate that they tolerate living together. Most of the negative interactions were in combination with food. Lastly there is a need for more research on this species and how it is affected by captivity, in order to better help manage captive populations.