An enormous wildcat has been caught on camera wandering around a forest in Scotland.
At 4ft (1.2m) long, the animal, nicknamed the Clashindarroch Beast, is thought to be one of the largest wildcats ever recorded.
The footage was recroded in Clashindarroch Forest in Aberdeenshire as part of a Scottish wildcat conservation project operating across the Highlands, the BBC reports.
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Remote camera traps, baited with food or scent, were set to film 30 seconds of footage when anything passed in front of the lens.
The conservation scheme started ten years ago and has yielded sightings spotted across the region, the Aberdeen Evening Express reports.
Wildcat Haven field worker Kev Bell told the BBC: “I’ve been fortunate to get footage of quite a few of these ghost cats. There’s about ten to 15 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 [cross-breeding with other species of cat].”
Bell said that until Wildcat Haven began gathering footage, some people had believed the wildcat was extinct in Scotland. Her colleague, Steve Sleigh, said the focus must now be on protecting the few that remain - and preserving their natural habitat.
“They are one of the rarest animals in the world,” he said. “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.”
