They have roamed the forests for millions of years, hiding by day and hunting by night, worshipped by some as a mystical being but feared by others as a dangerous predator capable of killing people.

Wildcats have been the subject of so much mystique and mythology that they were once believed to contain the spirits of witches. The myths may have long since been discarded but surprisingly little information exists about the wildcat population in 21st-century Britain.

They were persecuted to extinction in England and Wales by the late 19th century and this week scientists will ask the public for help as they try to establish whether the species is going the same way in Scotland, where it has been estimated that as few as 400 of the animals may remain.

Scottish Natural Heritage will tomorrow begin the first survey of Britain’s wildcat population in more than 20 years, calling for members of the public to report sightings of cats in forests and other remote areas.

The survey aims to establish the size and distribution of Felis silvestris gram-pia and to draw broad conclusions about the plight of Britain’s last large mammal predator.

It could lead to radical measures, including voluntary neutering of domestic cats to prevent them from interbreeding with wildcats in areas where the species is most at risk.

Ro Scott, policy and advisory officer at SNH, said that the public would be asked to pay close attention to markings on cats seen in the wild and to report these to its officers, along with the location of sightings. People would also be asked to submit video footage or photographs. She said: “We want to involve as many members of the public as possible who are out and about in areas where they might come across wildcats. We will be asking them to fill in a short questionnaire asking what they have seen.” Glimpsed in the headlights of a car or through the foliage of a forest, to the casual observer, there is little to set the wildcat apart from Britain’s 7.5 million domestic cats. Although similar in appearance to the domestic tabby, they are considerably larger with a “big cat gait”, have a wider face and jaw and well-defined brown and black stripes. Most noticeable is the bushy tail, strongly marked with three to five black rings ending in a black, blunt tip.

Notoriously timid, when cornered wildcats hiss and spit aggressively; until relatively recently, they were even thought by some to be dangerous to people. They avoid mountain areas, preferring woodlands and moorlands.

Although once widespread across Britain, their numbers declined owing to persecution and disease and by the 1860s they were extinct in England and Wales. A similar fall occurred in Scotland, where the animals are not thought to exist south of the Highlands and are limited to a small number of hotspots – including the northeast, the far north and, in the west, Argyll and Lochaber. The species’ status is listed as vulnerable.

“Of all the mammal species in Britain, this is one we know least about,” said Ms Scott yesterday.

Adrian Davis, a wildlife consultant who is conducting the survey on SNH’s behalf, is sceptical of claims that as few as 400 of the animals still exist. He believes that a figure of several thousand may be closer to the truth, but even this figure is worrying low.

“You need a large population to support a species like this because when you get low numbers all things, from disease to interbreeding, can intervene and reduce them to an alarmingly low number,” he said.

Although he has taken reports of sightings from gamekeepers and other countryside interest groups, he said that an estimate of wildcat numbers would be possible only when the public survey was completed later this year.

“The general feeling is that in some areas the numbers seem to be in decline but in others there seems to be an increase,” he said. “We’re going to be asking the public to watch out and report what they see. This is a species that has been greatly overlooked.”

Feisty feline

— The Scottish wildcat is the only native member of the cat family to be found in the wild in Britain

— There are likely to be just several thousand remaining, mostly in the Grampian and Deeside areas, Caithness, Argyll and Lochaber

— They were wiped out in England and Wales by Victorian gamekeepers and hunters after their fur

— A version of the wildcat is believed to have lived in Europe for more than 10 million years

— At least one ancient Scottish clan was reputed to worship the wildcat for its fierceness of spirit

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