Did you know that the UK has an overpopulation of deer?
The solution: experts want to reintroduce the lynx to Britain, a big cat and apex predator that was hunted to extinction around 1,300 years ago.
The Lynx UK Trust has drafted an application to bring these massive cats back to the England’s largest forest, Kielder in Northumberland, using wild animals rescued from Sweden.
While they don’t pose any threat to humans, the predators feed off deer and rabbits, which is why the Lynx Trust wants them back in Britain. Because although Bambi and co may be very cute, there are simply too many deer in the country right now, which causes serious ecological damage.
Opinions are still divided over bringing the wild animals back into the country. Tony Juniper, chair of the government’s wildlife regulator Natural England, said he would be ‘absolutely delighted’ if he could oversee the rewilding of lynx during his two-year stint in office, but more research was still needed to understand how different communities would be affected by living alongside the cats.
Natural England told the Lynx UK Trust that a trial reintroduction cannot go ahead right now because the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) rules it illegal under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act. However, the charity thinks it could be possible with a few tweaks to the law. The Lynx UK Trust, Defra and Natural England are currently at loggerheads over how the possible reintroduction could go ahead.
A spokesperson for Defra said: ‘This government is absolutely committed to restoring and protecting nature and we support species. We will continue to work with Natural England on species reintroductions in England.’
Paul O’Donoghue, chief executive of the Lynx UK Trust said: ‘The fact that the UK is one of the only countries in the world without an apex predator should be a source of huge shame for the government. We are in a biodiversity crisis. It is time for the greenwashing and needless conversations to stop and for real actions to occur.
‘It really is a no-brainer. Lynx are the perfect predator to reintroduce as they pose zero threat to humans yet provide so many societal benefits.’
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