pickI was pleasantly surprised by Taylor's book, enjoying it more than I'd anticipated. It combines her accounts of travels in the Scottish Highlands to spot wildcats in their natural environment with details of their evolutionary and cultural histories, their conservation status and the efforts being made both to save them and, sadly, exterminate them, the latter more through negligence and indifference, perhaps, than intent.
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#CatsOfLitsy #Skye
“Heading back, a couple of cars and a van have joined our own in the small carpark, and standing beside the van is a man with waist-length dreadlocks, a beard and a camera with a very long lens... He turns to us as we approach, ambles over, and we get talking. It's quickly evident that this man, Hamza, is highly knowledgeable about the peninsula and its wildlife, and he's soon advising us...When I mention wildcats, he goes quiet... 👇🏻
"Timing a trip to look for Scottish wildcats is difficult in a way, but in another way it's not: no matter what time you go, you're almost guaranteed not to see one."
About halfway through, and I'm really enjoying this book ?
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Skye does *not* pose for photographs! I had to edge as close as she'd tolerate to take this. She's not a wild "Highland Tiger", but she doesn't mess about either. She is often playful, but absolutely on her own terms. We're loving getting to know her idiosyncrasies? #Caturday
The book is about the natural history of and conservation efforts for the Scottish wildcat, of which few now survive that aren't hybridised with domestic cats ?
Tracking The Highland Tiger: In Search of Scottish Wildcats | 
A couple of resources signposted from the book are:
Saving Scottish Wildcats: https://www.savingwildcats.org.uk/
EcoWatch: https://www.ecowatch.com/biodiversity-tool-countries.html
This article expands on Taylor's comments about the Biodiversity Intactness Index, which places the UK in the bottom 5% of countries. 2d