Rare Scottish wildcat kittens born at a wildlife park will help give the threatened species a fighting chance of survival, experts claim.

The Highland Wildlife Park at Kingussie has welcomed the two litters of kittens as a boost to the species, which is facing extinction due to breeding with domestic and feral cats, habitat loss and accidental persecution.

The wildlife park is running a pioneering breeding programme which sees wildcats born in captivity breed with wild-caught partners in enclosures not on show to the public to ensure the cats retain the natural behaviour needed to thrive once released into the wild.

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The programme is part of the Scottish Wildcat Action project which aims to save the endangered species from extinction.

The new arrivals spent their first couple of months hidden in their dens but have ventured outside in the past few days.

David Barclay, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland cat conservation project officer, said: "The birth of these rare kittens is not just another boost for the captive breeding programme but for the conservation of this magnificent native species as a whole.

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"Through our work with Scottish Wildcat Action, we are doing everything we can to save the Scottish wildcat from extinction and the safety net of the captive breeding programme is becoming more and more vital as wild populations continue to decline.

"We have recently developed an off-show breeding facility for the wildcats, one of the largest of its kind in the world for small cats. Through the conservation breeding and pre-release training programme, we will eventually use captive-born wildcats to carry out reintroductions across Scotland."