Roadshow to explain lynx project in Argyll
The Lynx UK Trust has identified three sites in Scotland that are suitable for the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx.
Now that potential sites have been established, the trust will hold intensive consultations with local communities and businesses to discuss a trial period of reintroducing the species.
One of the suitable sites is the Kintyre peninsula region in Argyll and Bute, while the other two sites are in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park and the Glen Feshie region, next to Cairngorms National Park. The trust is taking its case on a roadshow to these areas in the first week of March.
Trust chief scientific adviser Paul O’Donoghue, said: ‘We’ve spent about 18 months looking at habitats across Scotland and talking to various stakeholders about a trial reintroduction of lynx which will ultimately lead to a multiple-site application to Scottish Natural Heritage.’
The trust said independent scientific research has shown that Scotland’s forests could sustain around 400 of the wild cats and this would benefit the surrounding areas.
Mr O’Donoghue said: ‘There’s some fantastic habitat connectivity in Scotland making it possible for lynx to live all the way from Glasgow to Inverness and across to the Cairngorms if a trial reintroduction was successful, bringing huge positive change to rural communities across the Highlands.’
Ecologists believe that reintroduction could help control the abundance of deer in Scottish forests. Essentially, the reintroduction of lynx would become a new form of deer management.
However, these calls for reintroduction are not just for deer management. According to further research, if the lynx was reintroduced, there would be a regeneration of forest ecosystems which would in turn benefit all of the UK’s native wildlife.
In regard to why these particular locations were chosen, Mr O’Donoghue said it was based on ecological factors, such as deer density and habitat suitability.
However, the reintroduction remains controversial as farming unions are concerned that the cats would kill sheep. The trust said those fears were despite studies showing sheep are a rare target for lynx.
Additionally, a lynx-related attack or death has never been recorded anywhere in the world.
Mr O’Donoghue said: ‘We certainly recognise the concerns that sheep farmers have, though farming unions have repeatedly overstated the threat, even claiming that lynx could threaten the food security of the entire UK.’
The Lynx UK Trust will be offering local farmers a range of support and will provide full insurance against lynx predation in the highly unlikely chance sheep are harmed.
In addition to all the ecological advantages, there are also benefits for local communities. Reintroducing lynx will generate eco-tourism revenue and create new jobs in remote rural areas.
This is something that has already been proven in the Harz National Park in Germany.
To find out more, anyone is welcome to attend the drop-in sessions. The first confirmed dates are March 5 at Tarbert Village Hall, March 6 at Aberfoyle Community Centre in Perthshire, and March 7 at Kincraig Community Hall in the Highlands.