Clashindarroch beast caught on film — one of world's rarest big cats

Scottish wildcats have been evolutionary isolated for so long, they are now likely to be a distinct species and, with as few as 35 alive, they are almost as elusive as the mythical Amur

leopard, the planet’s recognised rarest big cat. Scientists were able to calculate the exact length of the Clashindarroch Beast by accurately calibrating the branch it was filmed having a

snack on in a remarkable film clip released today. The footage was obtained by Wildcat Haven, a Scottish conservation project operating in sites across the Highlands, and which uses

camera-traps to obtain footage of the animals without disturbance. By baiting the remote cameras with food or scent, the wildcats can be filmed in short bursts of 30-second clips whenever

they pass the lens. Field worker Kev Bell recorded these scenes in Aberdeenshire's Clashindarroch Forest and believes it is one of the large wildcats ever seen anywhere in the world. He

explained: “I've been monitoring the wildcats in this area for about two years now, and have been fortunate to get footage of quite a few of these 'ghost cats'. “There's

about ten to fifteen of them here in the Clashindarroch. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw this cat, he is enormous, a magnificent animal. "The cameras give us amazing

insight to this priceless group of wildcats which have somehow survived here and avoided hybridisation. “Some people say that the wildcat doesn’t exist anymore but we know different and

wildcats like ‘The Beast’ prove it. This is nothing like a domestic cat, and you certainly wouldn’t want it sitting in your lap.” Wildcat Haven has been running its project in Scotland for a

decade, successfully neutering domestic cats across 1,000 squares of the West Highlands to stop the truly wildcats having their unique gene pool diluted. Steve Sleigh, another fieldworker

with Wildcat Haven, explained: “These cats are a vital part of Scotland's wild nature and ecology, and they must be protected wherever they live. “They are one of the rarest animals in

the world. "We have to do all we can to keep this amazing predator in wild where it belongs. Animals like the wildcat should never be locked up in a cage, they epitomise the

wilderness.”