The European wildcat Felis silvestri s can breed with domestic cats ( F. catus ) to produce fertile offspring. Not only does this mean that pets on the loose in areas that overlap with wildcat territory could get up to hijinks, but it also means their subsequent hybrid offspring can also go on to do the same. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Why is this a problem? Wildcats in Scotland are under threat from “hybrid swarms” as domestic cats started interbreeding with them 60 years ago. This kind of genetic swamping is a relatively new problem, as a 2023 study revealed that domestic cats have been living alongside each other for 2,000 years, but they only started getting it on in the last half-century or so.

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