麻豆传媒

For the past couple of years, I have had the pleasure of hosting 麻豆传媒鈥荣 rewilding weekender at Coombeshead, a farm in Devon, UK, that is being magnificently returned to nature. At the end of this two-day trip for paying guests, we hold a straw poll on which large mammal the audience would like to see reintroduced to Britain. Both times there has been a hands-down winner: the lynx.

I was reminded of this when news broke in January that had been spotted 鈥� and later captured 鈥� in the Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands. There is a very active project aimed at reintroducing lynx into the UK and, if it gets the go-ahead, that area could be where the big cats are released first.

I was under the impression that lynx would take to the Cairngorms like ducks to water, ghosting into the forests and living largely unseen, eating deer and troubling nobody. Indeed, there are rumours that these big cats are already present, having been re-introduced illegally by guerrilla (surely wildcat?) rewilders. But the Cairngorms four were easily captured and appeared totally ill-equipped to live in the wild. One died soon after it was found. It still isn鈥檛 clear how they got there; maybe they were exotic pets abandoned by their owner.

Soon afterwards I went to Cambridge to attend the . By coincidence, one session was on lynx reintroduction in the UK. This has relevance to other predator rewilding efforts around the world, including Iberian lynx and 鈥� just possibly 鈥� the thylacine, or Tasmanian tiger, in Australia, should de-extinction be possible for that species. It turns out that reintroduction is much more complicated than I had thought. I still think that lynx would be a fantastic re-addition to the UK鈥檚 wildlife after being absent for at least several centuries, but the romantic notion that they could be brought back tomorrow with no problem is for the birds.

Efforts to rewild the Scottish Highlands with this cat are being led by the Lynx to Scotland project. Hugh Webster, whose job title at partner body is lead storyteller (what a great role!), told the conference that while the Highlands are ecologically suitable for lynx and vice versa 鈥� there is ample habitat and food for roughly 250 鈥� there are still many hoops to jump through before they can get paws on the ground. The most important and difficult one is to get the general public on board.

There is ample habitat and food in Scotland's Highlands for a population of roughly 250 lynx

Last year, the charity started a consultation. It found that while there is majority support in Scotland for the return of lynx, resistance remains. 鈥淭here is still a significant number of people who either oppose it or strongly oppose it and鈥� a lot of people in that group are key stakeholders in the areas where we鈥檙e looking at reintroducing lynx,鈥� Webster told the conference.

The strongest pushback comes from sheep farmers. Lynx prefer to eat roe deer, but will take livestock. 鈥淭here is no question that lynx can and do kill sheep, sometimes in quite high numbers,鈥� said Webster. The charity will have to persuade farmers that the risks can be managed and that there are compensation schemes in place. But it is a tough sell. Had the four lynx in the Cairngorms killed even one sheep, then the next round of consultation would have been dead in the water, he said.

Foresters, too, are jumpy. In principle they are in favour. Scotland is overrun with deer, which can feed on and damage trees, and lynx kill a lot of deer 鈥� one of the compelling ecological reasons for reintroducing them. But foresters are afraid of yet more legislation. They already have to do expensive, time-consuming surveys to check for the Scottish wildcat, and operations cease if any are present. If the same applied to lynx, that could be the last straw.

There are other unknowns and concerns. Reintroducing lynx may be the final nail in the coffin for the , a type of oversized grouse that is already endangered and in steep decline. But on the other hand, it could help them by curbing the number of foxes, which kill many of the birds. The game bird shooting industry also needs persuading that lynx won鈥檛 gobble up or scare off its stock.

As for the notion that lynx are already in the Highlands, forget it. Webster told me there is no way they could go undetected. There are so many people doing ecological surveys there, and so many camera traps, that the animals, or their kills, would be seen. 鈥淲e鈥檇 know,鈥� he says.

So when might lynx return? If the charity can win over objectors, the next step is for it to apply for a licence to release 20-plus lynx on a trial basis. That could be in as little as 12 months. But I am sorry to say that I don鈥檛 think there is a cat in hell鈥檚 chance of it ever happening.

Meanwhile, I will watch with interest the ambitious plan by US company Colossal Biosciences to resurrect the thylacine.

Graham鈥檚 week

What I鈥檓 reading

I鈥檓 learning to play bridge, so Begin Bridge by G. C. H. Fox. Mind-boggling stuff.

What I鈥檓 watching

I thought I鈥檇 had my fill of The Traitors (BBC), but the new season is compelling.

What I鈥檓 working on

Tackling my fibre intake for a bit of self-experimentation.