Claim: DNA evidence confirms existence of black panthers in the British countryside

[JMartJr]

Yeah, the Scottish wildcat is probably a goner, sadly.

I am afraid this may be right. But as a person of Scots descent, and a True Scotsman at heart, I support them when I can -- no True Scotsman could do otherwise!

 

[Ann K]

I am afraid this may be right. But as a person of Scots descent, and a True Scotsman at heart, I support them when I can -- no True Scotsman could do otherwise!

As a Scot, I concur. But as one of the millions of cat lovers in the world, I see no possibility of @Skalman 's suggested draconian measures of house cat control as being likely. I wonder if the wildcats interbreeding with house cats is because of the scarcity of finding another wildcat to breed with. In other words, interbreeding of necessity because in many locales there is no longer a viable wildcat population.

Is that perhaps the ultimate end when many other species go extinct, to mate with their own species when possible, but with other species if forced to look elsewhere? I'm particularly thinking of the small percent of Neanderthal genes found in many Europeans.

 

[RTM]

Is the Kellas wild cat different than the Scots wild cat?

 

[Ann K]

Is the Kellas wild cat different than the Scots wild cat?

The Kellas cat is a large black cat found in Scotland. It is an interspecific hybrid between the Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestrissyn. Felis silvestris grampia) and the domestic cat (Felis catus). Once thought to be a mythological wild cat, with its few sightings dismissed as hoaxes, a specimen was killed in a snare by a gamekeeper in 1984 and found to be a hybrid between the Scottish wildcat and domestic cat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellas_cat

 

[deirdre]

I wonder if the wildcats interbreeding with house cats is because of the scarcity of finding another wildcat to breed with. In other words, interbreeding of necessity because in many locales there is no longer a viable wildcat population.

your article says

Article:

This shift may have occurred for a variety of reasons, including a rise in domestic cat ownership and habitat destruction.When humans deforested large patches of Scottish forest, wildcats were forced into environments closer to humans, where they were more likely to come in contact with a house cat, the authors write in the Conversation.

...
Interestingly, this same interbreeding that is diluting wildcat genes might have actually saved the species from going extinct sooner—through genetic mixing, wildcats gained house cats' ability to fight diseases such as feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus, per Science. Still, the only reason they would have been exposed to those diseases in the first place would have been from house cats

Source: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wildcats-survival-threatened-from-breeding-with-domestic-cats-180983208/

based on my cats over the years they, male or female, aren't exactly picky with who they mate with. and with females it's like a "pon farr" situation...and its not like they get laid once and are satisfied. so if the two groups are near each other there is going to be intermixing.

 

[jarlrmai]

Seems like this one was due it's regular ~2 year recycle.

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/big-cats-in-british-countryside

As well as science, we can look to other forms of evidence, such as tracks and signs. Mark Graves, now based in Britain after 18 years as an elite wildlife guide in South Africa, is confident about the evidence shown to him. "I've seen several prints and casts that match large cats, like the leopard, from different parts of Britain. A trail camera recently recorded a leopard in Devon 'sawing' [making a raspy call to establish a territory or find a mate]," he says. "Some of the carcasses are compelling, too – freshly filleted deer remains compare well to how leopards leave impala prey in South Africa."

A shame we cannot see this evidence nor check it's provenance.