Did they have to shoot the escaped lynx?

I AM outraged at the needless shooting of the escaped lynx by a marksman on the orders of Ceredigion County Council (Mail). The decision appears to have been based on ignorance and prejudice and certainly not on the facts and known behaviour of this animal. There are no recorded attacks on humans by lynx. In fact, these animals avoid human contact. It’s appalling decisions such as this that have resulted in Britain being one of the poorest nations in Europe for biodiversity. I hope that the officials who made this shocking decision will be brought to account.

R. CURTIS, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. AFTER the furore over a lynx that escaped from a zoo and evaded capture for two weeks, the misguided people who want to reintroduce these predators into the wild in the UK need a reality check. They should consider the obvious repercussions such actions could have on the environment.

S. GERRARD, York.

IS THE RSPCA going to seek a prosecution over the killing of the lynx when it had not harmed anyone? If I were to shoot a domestic or feral cat, they would haul me before the courts.

TERRY McDONALD-DORMAN, Middleton-Saint-George, Durham. THE lynx is on the verge of extinction worldwide, hunted by man for its fur. The animal that escaped in Wales could have been shot with a sedative and returned to its cage, so why was it killed as ‘being a danger to humans’? The marksman was the real beast.

MALCOLM BOUCHIER, Louth, Lincs.