Big cat still found across Europe

Habitat loss and hunting led to the extinction of the Eurasian lynx in the UK around 700AD.

The only other predators which outsize the species on the European continent are the brown bear and the grey wolf.

The animal is found from western Europe right across Russia and central Asia and can bring down creatures more than four times their size. They live solitary lives in woodland areas.

Lynx are renowned for being incredibly clinical and efficient hunters, killing prey such as deer by delivering a fatal bite to the neck or snout.

Eurasian lynx grow to between 2.6ft and 4.3ft, with males weighing as much as 88lb and females 44lb.

Under the scheme proposed by the Lynx UK Trust, the animals would be released on to private land and monitored 24-7 to allow experts to see how they adapt to their new surroundings.

In the past, Aberdeenshire farmers, the National Farmers Union Scotland and the National Sheep Association (NSA) criticised the plans amid fears that livestock would be easy prey for the big cats.