Escaped Lynx Killed! (1 Viewer)

So its finally happened, the Eurasian Lynx which escaped from Borth Zoo last month has been 'humanely' killed! Apparently it entered a populated area and the authorities decided in their wisdom that the risk to the public was 'severe'!??
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-41944467

There had already been dramatic reports from the National Sheep Association of seven sheep being slaughtered in the region by the missing lynx:
http://www.nationalsheep.org.uk/news/12129/escaped-lynx-kills-seven-sheep-a-stark-warning/

Unfortunately it looks like the negative attitudes and ignorance still prevailing amongst farmers, local authorities and the general public are likely to make the reintroduction of Eurasian Lynx into the UK extremely difficult.

Moron appears inadequate as a description of this council. Not to mention the sheep association. I'm not aware of an area of the world that has been depopulated of sheep due to the activities of bigger cats than Eurasian Lynx, though it is possible the NSA has something to learn about sheep husbandry from those who do have to cope with them.

Mind you, in a contiguous island they are right that Welsh approval is being bypassed, in the same way as English approval has effectively been bypassed by Scottish and Welsh approval for Beaver reintroduction. What they are ignoring is that both of these are reintroductions: the procedures for sheep farming in the face of presence of Lynx (and Wolf, and Brown Bear) are not new to Britain, just to them as individuals.... get over yourselves NSA, and learn some farming skills.

John

I was on the phone to my son, in Finland, last week, while he was out walking the dog. During our conversation he casually remarked: "oh look, there's a Lynx", which had just crossed his path. That was it: no police helicopter chasing after it, no bloodthirsty men with guns stalking it, just an "oh look, that's nice", and carry on with the walk. This was on the outskirts of Helsinki, so close to a well populated area. Why can't we have the same attitude here? Is one Lynx going to singlehandedly make a significant dent in the population of 33 million sheep?
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David

skatebirder said:

Why can't we have the same attitude here?

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Because infortunately, the UK has created a culture of fear for themselves that is constantly topped up by these kind of narrow-minded know-alls.

Nat Geo and similar's documentaries these days don't help the cause for predators - its all melodramatic, sensationlised killing, big teeth and fights and lots of ambiguous vaguely educational narrative.

I hope the reintroduction succeeds - the countryside would be all the more rich.

Simon Wates said:

Because infortunately, the UK has created a culture of fear for themselves that is constantly topped up by these kind of narrow-minded know-alls.

Nat Geo and similar's documentaries these days don't help the cause for predators - its all melodramatic, sensationlised killing, big teeth and fights and lots of ambiguous vaguely educational narrative.

I hope the reintroduction succeeds - the countryside would be all the more rich.

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Actually its not a culture of fear. Its an obsession with risk aversion. Organisations from government down are trying to turn life into a zero-risk affair, which is not only impossible but results in ban after ban after ban in vain attempts to stop people dying and the organisations being blamed for it.

Its only a few idiots that are seduced by this vision - I've met parents who won't let their children climb trees, for instance: and when I gave them my opinion that their children would just do it out of their sight, meaning increased risk over teaching them in a controlled way, you'd have thought I'd sprouted horns and a tail! Most are more sensible than that, or so it seems to me.

But organisations are also obsessed with continuous improvement, which means they have to screw things down tighter and tighter regardless of the actual need or consequences, so perfectly sensible 30 mph limits become 20 - which actually increases conflict between motorists and cyclists - and so on. What we need is a much more healthy attitude to making people responsible for their own safety, their own risk assessment and their own responsibility when it all goes wrong.

John

Words fail to describe this one. Idiots, stirred up by the media.

Farnboro John said:

Actually its not a culture of fear. Its an obsession with risk aversion. Organisations from government down are trying to turn life into a zero-risk affair, which is not only impossible but results in ban after ban after ban in vain attempts to stop people dying and the organisations being blamed for it.

Its only a few idiots that are seduced by this vision - I've met parents who won't let their children climb trees, for instance: and when I gave them my opinion that their children would just do it out of their sight, meaning increased risk over teaching them in a controlled way, you'd have thought I'd sprouted horns and a tail! Most are more sensible than that, or so it seems to me.

But organisations are also obsessed with continuous improvement, which means they have to screw things down tighter and tighter regardless of the actual need or consequences, so perfectly sensible 30 mph limits become 20 - which actually increases conflict between motorists and cyclists - and so on. What we need is a much more healthy attitude to making people responsible for their own safety, their own risk assessment and their own responsibility when it all goes wrong.

John

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Yes, you have put it better than me, though its still a kind of fear. I suppose that you are right in saying most are more sensible - I bet some folk kept the children inside and they would be the one's described in your tree climbing example. I hope that most youngsters would be excited at the thought of spotting it.

Mainly though, I'm mad that they killed a perfectly healthy creature and that they are kept in captivity for show.

In a review of human deaths caused worldwide by large carnivores during the 20th Century, Löe & Röskaft (2004) report the following statistics:

Black Bear: 37
Brown Bear: 313
Polar Bear: 12
Sloth Bear: 48
Coyote: 1
Grey Wolf: 607 (the majority from rabies transmitted to the humans from the wolves, rather than as a direct result of the wolf attack itself)
Spotted Hyena: 4
Striped Hyena: 2
Tiger: 12,599
Leopard: 840
Lion: 552
Puma: 18

And yes.. you guessed it....Lynx (of any species)....ZERO!

Oh and what about human deaths caused by pet dogs in the UK... well a freedom of information request to the Office of National Statistics produced the following data...in just the period 1981 to 2015 there have been 78 (Seventy-Eight) human deaths in the UK alone directly attributed to dog bites!

So what is the greater risk to public? One lone Lynx or one of the estimated 8.5 million pet dogs in the UK?

Surely, if one young escaped Lynx is seen as a 'severe risk' to public safety, shouldn't councils be sending out police marksmen around the country to 'humanely destroy' any dog they spot off the lead? And every home with a pet dog surely needs to be inspected that it has adequately secure fencing and gates to be certain that these potentially dangerous animals cannot get out into the streets or neighbouring gardens.

In fact, surely we ought to legislate against such 'dangerous' animals as dogs being kept in 'populated places'?

Come on Ceredigion Council, you obviously take the protection of your local population very seriously, why not proudly be the first council in the UK to help rid the country of the dogs that pose such a threat to us all! And think of all the sheep you would help save....15,000 were killed by dogs in 2016 alone in the UK!

Crazy times we live in!

Sad event due to regrettable ignorance.

Lynx, wolves and brown bears are now recolonizing mainland Europe and everybody serious, especially authorities, knows the real behavior of these animals. It is high time that Britain learns it too. It remembers the story about beavers from several years ago, when angling circles in Scotland protested because they believed beavers eat fish. And other stories where police spent resources pursuing 'escaped big cat' which footprints were clearly dogs.