Late yesterday evening, a buzz began to stir on social media and messaging platforms. The rumour was that two Eurasian Lynx had been spotted in the Cairngorms National Park – not far from the Highland Wildlife Park. The immediate assumption was that these were escapees; but this was not the case. The Highland Wildlife Park confirmed that none of their cats were missing and they, the CNP Authority and Police Scotland all described this as “a suspected illegal release” of big cats.
But who would have done it, and why? The story ends fairly quickly, in that this morning, the news emerged that the cats have been humanely trapped overnight by experts from the wildlife park, and will shortly be assessed for their health and welfare. We don’t know, of course, how long the lynx had been out in the wild before they were spotted and captured.
The park states that they “condemn the illegal release of these lynx in the strongest possible terms” with David Field, chief executive of the The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland stating that “It was a highly irresponsible act and it is very unlikely [the lynx] would have survived in the wild due to a lack of adequate preparation. Their abandonment was reckless to the animals, public, the community and nature."
Similarly Peter Cairns, executive director of Scotland: The Big Picture – one of three charities who want to reintroduce lynx to Scotland under the banner of ‘Lynx to Scotland’ – stated that: “This is unwelcome and grossly irresponsible, but comes at the worst possible time, when stakeholders are engaging in good faith with productive discussions about the possibility of a responsibly managed and fully resourced legal reintroduction."
Not everyone agreed, however. Commenting on a Facebook post about the sightings Ben Goldsmith, former non-executive director at Defra, chair of the Conservative Environment Network and keen rewilder, wrote that it was “delightful news”. “Lynx are a native species which should have been reintroduced to Britain long ago. Lynx are not dangerous, unless you’re a rabbit. How about leaving them be?”
Others went one step further. Derek Gow is well-known for his ‘guerilla rewilding’ involving beavers, water voles, and who knows what else? There has been talk of wildcats and storks as well, but either way he believes that the government rules regarding species reintroduction are too restrictive.
His comment on the lynx? “However regrettable this is what happens when no progress at all can be made with intransigent opponents.”
The question still remains, then, as to how these lynx ended up on the roam around the Cairngorms. The National Park and the Wildlife Park both seem pretty sure that they were illegally released on purpose; but by who? We all know of various previous examples of unauthorised animal releases, not only those carried out by Gow. But these have all tended to be smaller animals, rather than a large predator species. Did they think the lynx would go unnoticed, or were they simply fed up of waiting for official approval and decided to try their luck? Either way, for the poor lynx, it seems a sorry state of affairs.