Lynx released in the Highlands (1 Viewer)

[YuShan]

RIP

Lynx dies after being captured in Cairngorms

Four of the wild cats have been captured in recent days, after they were illegally released into the Highlands.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Thrupenney Bit]

RIP

Lynx dies after being captured in Cairngorms

Four of the wild cats have been captured in recent days, after they were illegally released into the Highlands.

www.bbc.co.uk

Yes just seen the news.
Sad...

 

[Swindon Addick]

The people looking after the animals after their recapture have said they see signs that they did not eat between being released and being trapped. Which suggests that they weren't given any serious preparation.

Lynx illegally released in Cairngorms were starving, says RZSS

Four cats were captured over Thursday and Friday before one of them later died.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Thrupenney Bit]

The people looking after the animals after their recapture have said they see signs that they did not eat between being released and being trapped. Which suggests that they weren't given any serious preparation.

Lynx illegally released in Cairngorms were starving, says RZSS

Four cats were captured over Thursday and Friday before one of them later died.

www.bbc.co.uk

I hadn't heard that.
It is incredibly sad for the animals to be let down by humans in such a way.
It also goes to show that such unofficial releases are not the way to go.

There's the undercurrent of opinion on some quarters that such actions cutting through red tape, but this story just emphasises the need for proper planning and legislation to make a release successful for all concerned, especially the animals involved.

 

[Mono]

The more that comes out about this story the more it looks like this was the dumping of illegal "pets" rather than a pirate reintroduction.

 

[Thrupenney Bit]

The more that comes out about this story the more it looks like this was the dumping of illegal "pets" rather than a pirate reintroduction.

Yep, looks that way sadly.
If that is the case, there must be a 'paper trail' leading back to the purportrators?
I'm beginning to feel very sorry for those cats...

 

[dantheman]

Yep, looks that way sadly.
If that is the case, there must be a 'paper trail' leading back to the purportrators?
I'm beginning to feel very sorry for those cats...

Pawpertraitors??

Yes, the big losses in the immediate here are the animals themselves.

 

[Thrupenney Bit]

Pawpertraitors??

Yes, the big losses in the immediate here are the animals themselves.

😁 ... oh puuurlease!

Yes I agree, these poor cats have had a tough time.

I'd love to see them established in the wild again after many centuries, but I'm very aware it takes a lot of time with a lot of boxes ticked to do it properly.
This isn't the way.

 

[Farnboro John]

The presence of porcupine quills in the bedding is interesting. There is surely an implication that wherever they come from there are also porcupines, and some waste bedding was used to transport the Lynx for dumping, which I suppose may cut down the possible origins? (It also strikes me as hellish irresponsible as porcupine quills are sharp, slightly barbed and can get embedded in flesh, but that seems to be of a piece with this shockingly badly undertaken event.)

John

 

[JTweedie]

To those that suggested there was more to the release of the four lynx recently than was being reported, that it was not rogue rewilders as the media were reporting, but groups opposed to the reintroduction, then it sounds like the stunt worked as John Swinney tells a farmers conference that there will be no introduction of predators under his government.

John Swinney rules out reintroduction of lynx to Scotland

The first minister tells farmers that no carnivorous species will be reintroduced under his government.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Thrupenney Bit]

To those that suggested there was more to the release of the four lynx recently than was being reported, that it was not rogue rewilders as the media were reporting, but groups opposed to the reintroduction, then it sounds like the stunt worked as John Swinney tells a farmers conference that there will be no introduction of predators under his government.

John Swinney rules out reintroduction of lynx to Scotland

The first minister tells farmers that no carnivorous species will be reintroduced under his government.

www.bbc.co.uk

I get so frustrated when seeing reports like this.
I really wish someone - an independent advisor with clout - needs to explain exactly what a re-introduction of such a species would mean. Even if that does mean it could have a large negative effect, at least we'd know from an informed perspective not immediate knee-jerk reactions.
Any hint of a re-introduction anywhere gets a 'we are really concerned about our livestock' backlash from farmers and that is that.
End of story.

"My government will not be reintroducing lynx, or indeed any other large carnivorous species in Scotland."
You can hear the population tremble as obviously any 'large carnivorous species' means it'll put the population at risk too.
Obviously.
As a population we seem to be increasingly detached from nature and therefore anything seems to be posing a threat.
Sigh....

 

[TheBlackGrouse]

I get so frustrated when seeing reports like this.
I really wish someone - an independent advisor with clout - needs to explain exactly what a re-introduction of such a species would mean. Even if that does mean it could have a large negative effect, at least we'd know from an informed perspective not immediate knee-jerk reactions.
Any hint of a re-introduction anywhere gets a 'we are really concerned about our livestock' backlash from farmers and that is that.
End of story.

"My government will not be reintroducing lynx, or indeed any other large carnivorous species in Scotland."
You can hear the population tremble as obviously any 'large carnivorous species' means it'll put the population at risk too.
Obviously.
As a population we seem to be increasingly detached from nature and therefore anything seems to be posing a threat.
Sigh....

Incredible...

Lynx never approach people. Seeing them is almost impossible in Western Europe. Believe me, I tried, in the Eifel in Germany, the only thing I found was one footprint in the mud. Nothing more, an impressive footprint though, made my day.

Contrary to Wolves, wandering Lynx will not travel through small villages, they stay in forested areas.

When the populations of Roe, Red Deer, Wild Boar have their natural densities, attacks on sheep are extremely rare. Also because lynx are stealth hunters and they avoid open areas. Of course, when you reintroduce Lynx, they have no knowledge of the terrain and the movements of prey animals. For a short period sheep need some protection. Or, make sure Lynx have some extra food while they learn how to hunt in their new territory.

In a Lynx territory there are about 1000 larger preys. They choose a territory based on the numbers of deer and boar. One Lynx can live from 50-60 Roe Deer a year. Territories of females and males overlap but even then, this number may be 100 at most.

Every year hunters need to shoot 35% of the population of Roe Deer. Even if the only prey is Roe Deer, hunters still have a lot of work to do.

 

[Thrupenney Bit]

Incredible...

Lynx never approach people. Seeing them is almost impossible in Western Europe. Believe me, I tried, in the Eifel in Germany, the only thing I found was one footprint in the mud. Nothing more, an impressive footprint though, made my day.

Contrary to Wolves, wandering Lynx will not travel through small villages, they stay in forested areas.

When the populations of Roe, Red Deer, Wild Boar have their natural densities, attacks on sheep are extremely rare. Also because lynx are stealth hunters and they avoid open areas. Of course, when you reintroduce Lynx, they have no knowledge of the terrain and the movements of prey animals. For a short period sheep need some protection. Or, make sure Lynx have some extra food while they learn how to hunt in their new territory.

In a Lynx territory there are about 1000 larger preys. They choose a territory based on the numbers of deer and boar. One Lynx can live from 50-60 Roe Deer a year. Territories of females and males overlap but even then, this number may be 100 at most.

Every year hunters need to shoot 35% of the population of Roe Deer. Even if the only prey is Roe Deer, hunters still have a lot of work to do.

Thank you for your reply.
I just wish we could get the message about how shy Lynx are and their specific taste in prey out there to the general public, including farmers, though it seems whatever you say farmers will still argue black is white.
It feels like the general public assume that as it's a wild carnivorous animal, therefore it will be marching down a street near you to take lumps out of you.

I just live in hope that at some point people will listen to people who know about Lynx rather than people making wild assumptions.
thanks again.
Q

 

[Jos Stratford]

Contrary to Wolves, wandering Lynx will not travel through small villages, they stay in forested areas.

Not really true, though they undoubtedly usually avoid built up areas, there are plenty of records of Lynx in urban/semi-urban areas in the Baltic States, including even in a couple of the bigger cities in the region - somewhere up thread I posted an image of one relaxing under chairs on a cafe patio in Estonia and I can also remember a photo here in Lithuania of one in an apple tree in a back garden of the fourth biggest city in the country.

Probably worth mentioning that Lynx are far more common here, especially in Estonia, than in western Europe. With higher density, I guess higher number of records in urban fringes. That said there have been zero attacks by Lynx in the Baltics to the best of my knowledge, neither in towns nor in the forests where folk wander for berries etc.

 

[TheBlackGrouse]

Not really true, though they undoubtedly usually avoid built up areas, there are plenty of records of Lynx in urban/semi-urban areas in the Baltic States, including even in a couple of the bigger cities in the region - somewhere up thread I posted an image of one relaxing under chairs on a cafe patio in Estonia and I can also remember a photo here in Lithuania of one in an apple tree in a back garden of the fourth biggest city in the country.

Probably worth mentioning that Lynx are far more common here, especially in Estonia, than in western Europe. With higher density, I guess higher number of records in urban fringes. That said there have been zero attacks by Lynx in the Baltics to the best of my knowledge, neither in towns nor in the forests where folk wander for berries etc.

Yes, when I wrote that I remembered your post about the Lynx in the Baltic States (especially the image ) so I was talking about Lynx in Western Europe, but I should have mentioned it again in that next sentence.

The Northern Lynx is found in Fennoscandia, the Baltic States, Poland, Belarus and Russia, it's a subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx. It's possible that subspecies behave differently. High densities may play a role too.

Our Lynx, (Eifel, Belgium, South-East of Holland) are extremely shy. Our Wolves are shy but Lynx are simply invisible.

 

[Thrupenney Bit]

It is fascinating hearing this from people who have actual experience of living in a country with these creatures.
Thank you both.

 

[jurek]

I just wish we could get the message about how shy Lynx are and their specific taste in prey out there to the general public, including farmers

You can put the example of Switzerland. Swiss reintroduced lynxes already in the 1970s and have 50 years experience. Switzerland is a densely populated, industrialized West European country with no-nonsense people. They can give all the hard facts and personal experiences about things like why lynxes are not a danger to livestock farmers. You can ask conservationists, hikers, skiers, farmers, whomever.

PROFILE LYNX

www.kora.ch

I did not see a lynx this year, but seen just hours old footprints of a lynx walking on one of my favorite bicycle trails, right next to Basel. Lynxes live invisible, always picking places and times when people are not around. Funniest is that they are not even especially afraid of people and often travel on human roads. They simply are active at night, early dawn, evening, when people are not active. At the daytime they rest in thickets or rocks where people don't enter, but often very close to houses.

 

[TheBlackGrouse]

You can put the example of Switzerland. Swiss reintroduced lynxes already in the 1970s and have 50 years experience. Switzerland is a densely populated, industrialized West European country with no-nonsense people. They can give all the hard facts and personal experiences about things like why lynxes are not a danger to livestock farmers. You can ask conservationists, hikers, skiers, farmers, whomever.

PROFILE LYNX

www.kora.ch

I did not see a lynx this year, but seen just hours old footprints of a lynx walking on one of my favorite bicycle trails, right next to Basel. Lynxes live invisible, always picking places and times when people are not around. Funniest is that they are not even especially afraid of people and often travel on human roads. They simply are active at night, early dawn, evening, when people are not active. At the daytime they rest in thickets or rocks where people don't enter, but often very close to houses.

Thanks for the link, very interesting site.

''The Eurasian lynx is a hunter of small ungulates. A number of radiotelemetry studies in Switzerland found a total of 51.3% of prey items to be roe deer and 28.5% chamois. The rest consisted mainly of European and alpine hares, foxes and marmots. The percentage of prey items in the diet varies not only between areas, but also over time within the same area. Multiple attacks on livestock, particularly sheep and seldom goats, happen locally and usually only when the regional game population is low.''

This map is from that site. It shows the subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx. The Western European Lynx is the Carpathian subspecies, but it seems that the population in the Eifel is not on the map. Probably, the few Lynx in the Netherlands and Belgium are from the Eifel.

• Northern lynx L. l. lynx in Scandinavia, Finland, Baltic States, Belarus, European part of Russia east to the Yenissei river,
• Carpathian lynx L. l. carpathicus in East and Central Europe, as well as in the reintroduced populations in Western Europe,
• Balkan lynx L. l. balcanicus in the Balkans,
• Caucasus lynx L. l. dinniki in the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Iran and Iraq,

DISTRIBUTION

www.kora.ch

 

[JTweedie]

Feral pigs released not far from where the lynx were released. But again, reporting on this is saying things like:

The sighting of the pigs has prompted further concerns about rogue activists intent on rewilding the Highlands by stealth.

Where is the evidence for this? Can you not think of any other explanations? I'm sure you could, but don't speculate - report on what you know for sure.

Rangers corral feral pigs thought to have been released in Cairngorms

Animals suspected of being illegally left in ‘extremely harsh’ environment near where lynx were found last month

www.theguardian.com

 

[jurek]

By the way, there is still no evidence that these lynxes or pigs were deliberately released by anyone for any purpose, rather than escaped. In the meantime the fantasies about animal-releasing activists get wilder and wilder.

It is also possible that pigs were released as food for Loch Ness plesiosaurs.