Eurasian lynx is all set to make a comeback in Britain after 1,300 years

LONDON: One of the world’s most solitary predators – Eurasian lynx - often referred to as the keeper of secrets that rarely leaves the forest in popular folk lore, is all set to make a comeback in Britain after almost 1,300 years.

In what could be the most ambitious rewilding project ever to take place globally – similar to the one India was planning with the Asiatic cheetah imported from Iran that finally got shelved, Lynx UK Trust is planning to re-introduce 18 Eurasian lynx in Britain where the majestic animal disappeared.

The wild lynx, known as the master predator that preys mainly on deer would roam the woods of England and Scotland beginning with Norfolk, Cumbria and Aberdeenshire.

The Eurasian lynx is a solitary animal and very secretive in nature. It lives in dense forests. The only way humans know lynx are around is by footprints in the snow. The lynx was originally found from the UK to China. In modern times, the numbers have plummeted with a handful left in parts of Western Europe. In the UK the lynx was most likely hunted to extinction for its fur between 500-700 AD. Long legged with huge, snowshoe-like webbed paws to keep them an effective and fast predator even in deep snow, they have a distinctive ruff of hair around their face and neck and a short tail typically around eight inches long.

Greatly varied in size, Eurasian lynx tend to be between 80 to 130 cm length and up to 70 cm at the shoulder, with males weighing 18 to 40 kg and females 10 to 20 kg.

“The lynx is one of the most enigmatic, beautiful cats on the planet,” Dr Paul O’Donoghue, a scientific adviser to the trust said. “The British countryside is dying and lynx will bring it back to life.”

The trust has launched a public consultation to determine public reaction to the plan, after which it will lodge a formal application with Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

The last of the British lynx disappeared around the year 700.

The Trust said “This solitary and secretive nature means that they present no threat to humans and it is exceptionally rare for them to predate on agricultural animals. Their presence will return a vital natural function to our ecology helping control numbers of deer and a variety of agricultural pest species whilst protecting forestry from deer damage caused by overpopulation.

With no natural threats the time is perfect to bring back the lynx to the British Isles”.

It added “We are currently engaged in a range of research to identify potential release sites”.

One of the chosen sites is near Norfolk’s Thetford Forest and Ennerdale, a remote Lake District valley.

In Germany, 14 lynx were reintroduced to a site in the Harz mountains in 2000 and have since bred and colonised other areas. Another reintroduction, in Switzerland in the 1990s, has also seen animals breed and spread.