RARE Scottish wildcats will be fitted with GPS radio tracking collars in a bid to shed light on where they live and how they use the landscape.

The native species is one of the UK’s most endangered mammals and face the threat of extinction due to hybridisation with domestic and feral cats, habitat loss and accidental persecution.

Animals will be trapped over a two month period by Scottish Wildcat Action (SWA) and the Royal Zoological Society for Scotland (RZSS), for DNA collection and genetic analysis.

A number will then be fitted with GPS collars to allow researchers to gain a better understanding of how wildcats and feral cats coexist and how this relates to hybridisation.

Dr Kerry Kilshaw from Oxford University, who will conduct the GPS research, said: “This information will help us hugely in enabling us to protect them in the future by better understanding their home ranges, den sites and how they use the landscape.

“It will also allow us to monitor the individuals, using live data of where each wildcat is.”

The Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) is Scotland’s only remaining native cat.

Restricted in the UK to the Highlands Some experts fear there may be as few as 35 pure bred individuals left – fewer than the Bengal tiger and 70 times rarer than the giant panda.

Scottish wildcats are distinguished from domestic cats by their wide, flat head, a bushy tail with dark rings and distinctly striped coat.

SWA, the partnership project uniting experts from more than 20 key organisations and RZSS, will undertake trapping in three priority areas this winter.

It will help guide conservation efforts for the species.