'Breed and release' plan to save rare Scottish wildcat

　　Britain's "first large-scale" conservation breeding centre for rare Scottish wildcats is to be created in the Highlands.

　　The project could eventually see up to 20 captive-bred wildcats a year>

　　Longer term, cats could be>

　　The new centre is to be set up at Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore.

• Captivity-bred wildcats to be>
• Scottish wildcat kittens born in captivity
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• Scotland's wildcats 'functionally extinct' in the wild

　　Conservationists have warned the species is on the brink of extinction.

　　Breeding with feral domestic cats, disease and habitat loss have reduced their numbers.

　　The "breed and>

　　The centre would have "wildcat experts and a dedicated veterinary unit".

　　All>

　　The project would also seek to tackle the problems behind the decline in the species.