BACK ON SITE- WILDCAT EVIDENCE FOUND !!!!!
Hi All
Sincere thanks for your overwhelming support and kind words to our team, whose safety was seriously threatened by the actions of Vattenfall contractors. We have read and taken strength from every message.
As we promised you, WE WILL NOT BE BULLIED OUT OF THE FOREST and WE WILL NOT STOP FIGHTING FOR THE WILDCAT.
We are true to our word and have attended the site within the last few days. We were walking through a part of the forest that is within the planned windfarm boundary and as we did so, we found something very significant- Wildcat scat. Our team have studied wildcats for well over a decade and can accurately identify wildcat scat.
As we have always said, despite some felling, the wildcats are still present within the wider forest and the parts of the planned windfarm site that haven’t yet been bulldozed. This is crucial evidence making the continuing felling and operation work by Vattenfall, totally untenable. Let’s not forget, this is the most important wildcat site in Scotland.
Our team contacted the enforcement team at the council immediately. The council’s response was bizarre to say the least. They said that they were unable to do anything as it is outside their remit. They are the supposed enforcement team ????
They tried to placate us and said that there were publicly available pre felling reports available on the council’s planning portal. They gave us the link. We checked it and there were no such reports available. We went back to the council and they conceded that the reports were actually concealed from public scrutiny. You really couldn’t make this stuff up. They then provided us with an extract which confirmed that pre felling surveys had found wildcat hybrids on site. Here it is: “The camera trap results during June (as has been the case since April 2026) indicated continuing occasional presence of several hybrid wildcats in the study area, which includes the existing Clashindarroch wind farm. There was no evidence from pre-works surveys and wildlife camera monitoring of any use of potentially suitable resting sites within or near to proposed works areas.”
So let’s break this down a bit. They claim that work carried out in June is sufficient to show that there are no wildcats on site over 2 months later. Utterly ridiculous. They also say several hybrid wildcats were found. Yet they provide no explanation of how they determined them as hybrids and even who assessed them. Very few people in Scotland have the experience to score wildcats. And isn’t it funny that before development started, the authorities celebrated the Clashindarroch for its wildcats. Now suddenly, when they want to develop it, they are all hybrids. Hmmmmm
This whole thing stinks and it shows why they are so desperate to stop us camera trapping on the site. They know we will find wildcats as we have done so before. They will go to any lengths to prevent this,
Our team have also contacted the landowners, Forest and Land Scotland (FLS). We have told them of our find and asked them to halt all works immediately. They are yet to respond so we will chase hard. This time we have only told them the approximate location of the findings and cameras we have set. We will provide the exact location once they guarantee that the cameras will not be stolen as they were before.
We are gaining huge momentum, the authorities are running out of excuses, directing us to documents that don’t exist and the Vattenfall are having to go to extreme lengths to supress the presence of wildcats.
We will be back on site imminently and we will keep collecting evidence. The response we get back from FLS will determine the next legal steps we take. But to be clear, we have asked for a complete halt and we will be satisfied with nothing less. We have no doubt that the wildcats are still there and so we must defend them.
So we continue on and the pressure is building. At some point this reckless destruction and disturbance of these beautiful wildcats has to stop.
Your continued support is absolutely critical. Now is the time to press even harder from every possible angle until Vattenfall withdraw.
You can support our fight at this link:
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/wildcats/
Many thanks as always
Emily and a reinvigorated Wildcat Haven Team