Big cats poised for British comeback after 1300 years
After an absence of 1300 years, the lynx could be back in Britain’s forests by the end of this year.
The Lynx UK Trust has announced that it will apply for a trial reintroduction for six lynx into the Kielder forest in Northumberland, following a twoyear consultation process with local stakeholders.
The secretive cat can grow to 1.5 metres in length and feeds almost exclusively by ambushing deer. Attacks on humans are unknown, but it was hunted to extinction for its fur in Britain.
The Kielder forest was chosen by the trust from five possible sites, due to its abundance of deer, large forest area and the absence of major roads.
Sheep farmers and some locals are opposed to the reintroduction, but Dr Paul O’Donoghue, chief scientific adviser to the Lynx UK Trust and expert adviser to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, believes there are good reasons for reintroducing the predator.
‘‘Lynx belong here as much as hedgehogs, badgers, robins, blackbirds – they are an intrinsic part of the UK environment,’’ he said.
‘‘There is a moral obligation. We killed every single last one of them for the fur trade – that’s a wrong we have to right.’’
Rural communities would also benefit from ecotourism, O’Donoghue said.
‘‘They will generate tens of millions of pounds for struggling rural UK economies.
‘‘Lynx have already been reintroduced in the Harz mountains in Germany. They have branded the whole area the ‘kingdom of the lynx’. Now it is a thriving ecotourism destination, and we thought we could do exactly the same for Kielder,’’ he said.
Lynx would also boost the natural environment, he said, by reducing the overgrazing of forests by deer, allowing other wildlife to flourish.
The lynx that may be released in Kielder would come from Sweden, where there is a thriving population, and all would have GPS collars reporting their location at all times.
The plan is to release two males and four females, all young adults, as part of the trial is to see if the animals will breed.
Phil Stocker, National Sheep Association chief executive, said: ‘‘Even if compensation were offered, it will not make sheep mortalities acceptable. I cannot see how distressing attacks caused by a wild animal will be accepted [by the public].’’