Union pledges no retreat over opposition to releasing lynx

Scotland’s farmers remain crystal clear that any proposals to re-introduce predators such as lynx are wholly unacceptable to their industry, it was claimed yesterday.

Commenting on the most recent proposal launched by the Lynx UK Trust to reintroduce the big cats into Scotland, NFU Scotland reacted angrily to what they termed a “long line of brazen and presumptuous claims” about the imminent reintroduction of lynx to the UK.

“Its only application to date, to reintroduce lynx to Kielder, was rejected,” said the union’s land use chairman, Angus Mcfadyen.

“Farmers and crofters can be reassured that whatever emerges from this group does not, in any way, equate to an application for release in Scotland,” he continued.

“Were that to ever happen, we can categorically reassure our members that the process for securing permission for the trial release of lynx is long and complex and any application will be subject to considerable analysis and debate.”

Promising to protect the industry’s interests, Mcfadyen said that, in the union’s opinion, no local consensus nor political consensus had ever been secured and the latest announcement of a consultation would not change that.

The reaction came after the Lynx UK Trust announced that it had selected the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park as the first site to take forward an application for release in Scotland.

A spokesperson said that the company had met senior officials at Scottish Natural Heritage and had carried out an ecological feasibility study and would commence public engagement events in the area next month.