First Minister John Swinney has ruled out the legal reintroduction of lynx into the wild in Scotland.
His comments follow concerns about the illegal release of four lynx in the Cairngorms last month.
Campaigners have been working on plans for the controlled reintroduction of the cats to benefit rural biodiversity but farmers have raised concerns about the impact they would have on livestock.
This seems like an unnecessary reintroduction. I’m not familiar with Scotland but it’s hard to imagine there being enough wild land for this to work. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Scotland has a deer problem (they have no natural enemies anymore). So any reforestation effort fails because deer eat the shoots and young trees (just look up the Brewdog reforestation fiasco). The re-introduction of a predator would bring balance. Wolves would do, but people and especially sheep farmers are very scared to do that. The lynx is a less intimidating option.
I’m not from Scotland, but I live in Belgium, where wolves are making a comeback, even in Flanders, and lynx are also back in the ardennes. I’d say Scotland has A LOT more wild land than Belgium, which is massively paved over and farmed intensively.
It would help forests expand at their margins but you’re right, what Scotland really needs is wolves.