Research overview: hybridization as the central wildcat conservation threat

For several wildcat populations, the greatest threat is not habitat loss or persecution but genetic assimilation through hybridization with domestic cats. This overview examines how introgression endangers the European and especially the Scottish wildcat, potentially erasing the wild lineage even as wild-living cats persist. It discusses conservation responses, including captive breeding of genetically vetted wildcats, neutering of feral cats, and conservation translocation, all of which depend on a clear taxonomic and genetic definition of the wildcat. The piece connects to the recurring theme that taxonomy underpins conservation: without a defensible standard for what a wildcat is, efforts to save it cannot be targeted. It frames the wildcat as a case where systematics, genetics, and applied conservation are inseparable.