Cloning may help Scottish wildcats survive

Britain’s wildest animal could be cloned to save the species from becoming extinct within 10 years.

The number of Scottish wildcats is believed to have fallen to below 400 in their native Highlands, and their continued survival is under serious threat from interbreeding with feral domestic cats, which is diluting the gene pool.

Two kittens were born nine days ago at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent and it is hoped they will prove relatively pure. DNA tests have still to be carried out.

Pound-for-pound, Felis silvestris grampia is one of the most ferocious predators in the world, but there are fears that this famously untameable creature - with its “tiger-stripe” markings and bushy, ringed tail - will be lost forever as the last survivors die off.

It is on the World Conservation Union’s red list of threatened species.

Conservationists believe, however, that a breakthrough in cloning techniques could safeguard its future.

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