Solution or delusion?

Rewilding advocates believe reintroducing animals such as lynx will boost Britain's biodiversity but the real question is whether there is truly a place for large carnivores in our countryside

- Charles Smith-Jones

IN JANUARY this year four Eurasian lynx were discovered on the loose near Kingussie in the Cairngorms and were quickly trapped. Just where the animals came from remains a mystery but they were all unnaturally tolerant of human presence and showed signs of serious malnutrition. NatureScot has confirmed that it had not granted any licences for lynx reintroductions, and speculation on the animals' origins has ranged from a genuine escape from unlicensed premises to the deliberate 'dumping' of unwanted captive-bred kittens or possibly even a maverick rewilding attempt.

At around the same time that the lynx were captured in Scotland, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was projecting that the UK human population would grow from 67.6 million in mid-2022 to 72.5 million by mid-2032. Though there may be no immediately obvious connection between this and the lynx release, all will become clear.

Britain no longer has any naturally occurring large predators, and some campaigners want to see them back. Peter Cairns from Lynx to Scotland considers that there is no reason why there should not be a 'carefully managed' reintroduction, while Steve Micklewright of Trees for Life agrees, saying that “Scotland is one of a handful of European countries still lacking a large terrestrial land predator. If we are serious about tackling the nature and climate emergencies, we need lynx back.”