A group is hoping to create the first Scottish wildcat reserve in the country in the north-east.

Wildcat Haven is launching a legal campaign to stop logging in the Clashindarroch forest, and eventually aims to give it protected status.

According to the group, its fundraising campaign has raised more than £30,000 in a three-week period.

Dr Paul O’Donoghue, chief scientific adviser at Wildcat Haven, said: “We have more than half-a-million supporters which is unprecedented. The people who are supporting us are engaged and they’re part of the fight, they’re part of the team.

“It’s so exciting to see people are waking up to the fact that this is not acceptable. People are wanting to join the fight to save this forest and these incredible wildcats.”

It is estimated that a third of the Scottish wildcat population lives in the Clashindarroch forest but concerns have been growing over the loss of their habitat.

Lorries have been seen in the area, with noise levels reportedly affecting the cats’ breeding success.

Dr O’Donoghue said: “There are only 35 Scottish wildcats left on the planet and a third of them are in the Clashindarroch, so this forest is crucial to the future survival of the wildcat.

“It can’t be logged for commercial forestry or for a wind farm. It’s just not acceptable.

“This is the middle of the wildcat mating season and the forest is being logged right now so it’s urgent that we stop this – and soon.

“In the springtime, kittens will be born, and if the female is disturbed when she’s got kittens, she will either abandon them or sometimes even eat them.”

A legal team has been appointed and it will begin meetings with Wildcat Haven on Monday as part of the group’s aspiration to establish the first such reserve in the country.

Dr O’Donoghue said there are “certainly reasons” to be optimistic for the wildcat if the forest can be saved, but warned that failure to do so would “probably lead to the extinction in the wild of the species.

He said: “We’ve got people out all the time monitoring wildcats to make sure they are okay and still there.

“We also have people in the forest documenting the damage and documenting the logging, taking pictures and videos. This is all going to be vital evidence for the legal case going forward.”

A spokesman for Forestry and Land Scotland said: “Once again, this interest group is making unsubstantiated and unqualified claims about the impact of forest management on wildcats in Clashindarroch.

“Clashindarroch is a productive forest and is managed sustainably to internationally recognised standards.

“We manage it to maintain a structurally diverse habitat that supports a very significant amount of biodiversity, while also enabling the forest to fulfil its other varied roles including supplying high-quality timber.

“An important part of our stewardship involves carrying out a huge range of actions to conserve wildcats and other important species such as red squirrels, woodland grouse and birds of prey.”