Family happiness among the wildcats
Although the newly paired wildcats couldn't stand each other at first, four little wildcat kittens have now been born.
Although the newly paired wildcats couldn't stand each other at first, four little wildcat kittens have now been born.
From hissing to cuddling
In December 2017, the wildcat at the Natur- und Tierpark Goldau received a young female companion from the Tierpark Dälhölzli in Bern. However, hopes of a zoo romance were quickly dashed; the two kept out of each other's way or hissed at every encounter.
But the two wild relatives of the domestic cat had a surprise in store for the zoo staff. Although they had been fiercely hissing at each other just shortly before, they were suddenly spotted in spring sitting together on a rock, cuddling and grooming each other's fur. An even bigger and more unexpected surprise came a few weeks later, when the keepers suddenly discovered the female wildcat together with four kittens in the sleeping box during their morning rounds at the end of April.
The kittens can be observed
The young cats spent the first weeks of their lives in the sleeping box, cared for by their mother. After about two weeks, the mother carried her litter out of the hiding place, and since then visitors have been able to observe the kittens easily. More about fascinating wildlife.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In our dossiers on recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
