🐾 It is wonderful news to see how many people have visited the Missing Lynx Exhibition (https://lnkd.in/dBx7Qxhe), which is travelling around Southern Scotland and Northern England. Education such as this is a vital step before any reintroduction. In 2018, the government rejected proposals for a trial reintroduction of lynx into the Kilder forest, largely citing the potential for human-wildlife conflict.
😺 Any reintroduction would rely heavily on the agreement and cooperation of farmers. Successful reintroductions across Europe have relied on local stakeholder buy-in. Where this has not been achieved, human-wildlife conflict can threaten the survival of the local lynx population.
🐑 Much of the opposition to a reintroduction of lynx has to do with their impact on sheep farming, not just the livestock they predate but also the stress on flocks that share a landscape with predators.
🐈 In Norway, the number of sheep killed by lynx is relatively high, with each Lynx killing an average of 10 sheep a year. However, this paper (https://lnkd.in/dE5mBPbt) shows evidence that this is largely due to flocks in Norway being pastured in or around forests, something that is much rarer in other parts of Europe, where predation rates are much lower (2 to 3 sheep per lynx per year). The paper suggests that lynx rarely actively target sheep but will kill sheep that they come across as a chance encounter. This is much more likely in forested landscapes as they are lynx preferred habitat.
🐏 This paper from 2018 (https://lnkd.in/dpDNTqiZ) suggests that the population of around 300 lynx in Europe is responsible for around 300 sheep kills per year, set against roe deer and chamois predation of around 12,500 per year.
🦅 One unknown factor that can only be explored through a trial reintroduction would be the level of game bird predation by lynx. This paper points out (https://lnkd.in/d7mJTPJZ) that nowhere else in Europe are the levels of gamebird stocking as high as they are here in Britain. If it occurs, gamebird predation is likely to present another potential area of human-wildlife conflict, as has been seen with illegal killings of raptors on grouse moors in Britain.
🌳 The dangers of rushing a reintroduction without proper stakeholder buy-in are clear from examples in Europe, particularly in parts of Switzerland and France, where proper stakeholder approval was not achieved prior to lynx reintroduction.
#rewilding #lynx #missinglynx #carnivorereintroductions
