A pair of snoozing Scottish wildcats have been enjoying their new enclosure.

Argus Camera Club member Keith Duke captured Tilgate Nature Centre’s cats Angus and Fergus relaxing at the weekend.

One of the pair was seen having a nap before looking quite bemused at being caught on camera.

One of the cats just after waking up from a napOne of the cats just after waking up from a nap (Image: Keith Duke) Tilgate describes Angus and Fergus as a shy pair who are most often seen exploring in the morning or relaxing in the sun in the late afternoon.

Keith also captured another Scottish wildcat family over the border in Surrey at the British Wildlife Centre last year.

A Scottish wildcat kitten last year at the British Wildlife CentreA Scottish wildcat kitten last year at the British Wildlife Centre (Image: Keith Duke)

European wildcats are considered rarer than the Bengal tiger and giant panda and are the only native cat species surviving in Britain, with a small population still roaming the Scottish Highlands.

The species, which is also referred to as the Highland tiger, is critically endangered with some estimates of only 35 true Scottish wildcats remaining, according to the Woodland Trust.

An adult Scottish wildcat at the British Wildlife Centre last yearAn adult Scottish wildcat at the British Wildlife Centre photographed last year (Image: Keith Duke)

Once found across Britain, numbers declined drastically due to habitat loss and persecution as well as the wildcat’s genes being diluted through breeding with domestic moggies.

Scottish Wildcats are very rareScottish Wildcats are very rare (Image: Keith Duke) The wildcat can be differentiated from its tabby cousin by its distinctive thick, blunt tail with a black tip and rings. Wildcats are also stockier and more muscular, have longer legs and a larger, flatter head with ears that stick out to the side.

A wildcat conservation breeding programme is being coordinated by The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which has been designed to support the restoration of the species in Britain.

A healthy population of reintroduced wildcats will help to restore the balance in the ecosystem by controlling numbers of prey animals, such as rabbits and rodents and of predators such as foxes through competition for food, conservationists said.

This in turn can have a ripple effect across ecosystems, by which habitats for many more plant and wildlife species can be restored, they added.