A new exhibition is set to tour Northumberland with the aim of inspiring local people to find out about the big cats that used to roam our region.
Lynx disappeared in medieval times when their woodland habitat was largely chopped down. Books and poems mention lynx in the countryside up until the 18th century. There have been unsuccessful bids to reintroduce the big cats into Kielder Forest in recent years, with the first rejected by the then-Environment Secretary Michael Gove in 2018.
The plans drew the ire of local sheep farmers when they were first introduced, with many raising fears for their livestock. A second bid got underway in January 2021, with an application to bring just three Eurasian lynx to the country from Sweden, but for now, the only big cats in Northumberland remain in captivity.
The problem any introduction of large animals has is that we don’t really have many “wild” spaces anymore.
For such a shy species as the Lynx, it will be trapped within pockets unable to really spread fully.
That is why the article said reintroducing them to Northumberland onstead of Surrey. There is more to the UK than just what’s within 100 miles of London.
Granted Northumberland is better than the south of England but it’s not great either. And that’s just the area >500m away from a road. Road noise can travel much further than that, limiting their usable habit even further
Trees reduce a TON of noise. There is a train track a half mile from my home and i can hear the train in the winter, but can’t hear it in the summer when the trees have their leaves. The Lake District is also another great olace to reintroduce lynxs since it is sparsely populated.
