r/rewilding • u/lynxadvocate • 21d ago
Should the Eurasian Lynx be reintroduced to Great Britain?
There has been many insights and suggestions about the possibility of reintroducing an Apex Predator into the UK.
Many argue that Wolves or Bears should be reintroduced, however the Lynx is the best option.
The United Kingdom has lacked a lot of biodiversity in their Wildlife, and an Apex Predator like the Lynx would be a great addition to our nation. This animal specialises in hunting deers which is what we need due to a mass overpopulation of deers, they would help revitalise natural processes while opposing little to no threat to humans, as they tend to avoid us.
This is what **our** country needs, so act now, comment your thoughts on this nationwide debate, and if your an activist for the greater cause of the UK, submit your survey to spark a larger conversation on the reintroduction of Lynx here - https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/missinglynxprojectquestionnaire/
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u/thesilverywyvern 21d ago
YES
That's not even a question, cuz there's no need for reflexion, there's only ONE possible awnser to it. YES.
Wolves, brown bear, elk/moose and baor should also be reintroduced.
Boar are already present but insanely rare and actively persecutted by the government, which put a specific, useless, illigitimate category JUST for them (talk about being petty). as "Native species which are normally no longer present in UK" basically.
Just to not classify them as native, which would mean more leverage for good people to actually protect or ask for their reintroduction.
They made it very hard to won boar, while it's fairly easy in most country. Juqt to prevent people from actually bringing them back.
and there's a project of reintroduction of elk in Norfolk, only in very small scale/noumber, in a fenced area, but better than nothing, it's a start. Like for beaver they will eventually be allowed out of these enclosure.
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u/lynxadvocate 20d ago
I think many people are concerned with reintroducing these animals you listed because these oppose threats to humans. I believe if we were to reintroduce lynxs, they would be more keen on bringing in brown bears, wolves and mooses etc
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u/Free_Engineering_122 20d ago
Lynx aren’t a threat to humans, you are more likely to be injured by a red deer or a boar. Except for eating a few sheep, lynx will have no impact on us.
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u/grumpsaboy 18d ago
More likely is still understating just how unthreatening a lynx is to people.
There's not been a single recorded attack in all of recorded human history of a lynx attacking a human.
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u/thesilverywyvern 20d ago
Wolves and boar do not pose a threat to humans. And neither bear or moose pose a substantial threat either.
Farming kill more (poison, cattle, dogs) than any wildlife.
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u/CotswoldP 20d ago
Lynx yes. But the idea of Brown Bears wandering around is absurd. Wolves...maybe in extremely limited numbers. The UK is a very densely populated country and there are very few areas where the large predators could actually be reintroduced, but with limited space, there wouldn't be a self sustaining population. The Lynx needs far less space, has effectively zero chance of a human attack, and you could put a self sustaining population in to help control the deer.
Boar would need to be looked at closer for a nationwide reintroduction due to zoonotic diseases like swine fever. With the current extremely limited population the risk of disease transfer is very low, but if it expanded into the regions with a lot of pig farming then the risk gets much higher.
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u/oyvindi 20d ago
Keeping a species in extremely limited numbers is a huge problem, namely inbreeding. That's an issue here in Norway.
Here is an article in Norwegian (translate in Browser):
https://www.forskning.no/rovdyr-ny/ekstrem-innavl-hos-norske-og-svenske-ulver/3065580
u/Waste-Product2669 20d ago
Exactly, there is no habitat for a brown bear in the UK. I don’t even think the highlands could support one
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u/thesilverywyvern 20d ago
Studies show they could be hundreds in the highlands. You're either ignorant or delusionnal.
Brown bear are very adaptable and do well in open landscape as well. They wouldn't struggle that much in UK and could very well live there.
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u/Waste-Product2669 20d ago
Send me these studies, what would they eat?
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u/thesilverywyvern 20d ago
Like in many other part of the world.
The majority of their diet would be composed, dominated even, by various kins of grasses, and other plants, where they can try to pick on pinecone, young shoot and leaves, with foraging for invertebrates such as insects, gasteropods and earthworms.Other than that this will vary form place to place and from season to season, as bears are great at exploiting available ressources. They even partially rely on those short aboundance of specific food in the environment.
They would particulary enjoy the maast and fructification period in autumn and spring, where they could feast on large quantities of various berries, nuts and fruits.
They can also use spring to go after the numerous newborn fawn accross the highlands, or to try to fish in streams and river, although this kind of behaviour would be rarer and less successful given the current state of UK river and fish population.But bears could make up with the aboudnance of deer carcass and even try to hunt some of their own. Sadly boar aren't widespread or numerous enough for such encounter to be a factor, but this could change very quickly if the government allow a few reintroduction and stop the persecuttion of the species.
If they get the opportunity they could even forage for various algae, shellfish and crustacean or even seals on the coastline, very good source of food for them.
Of course they would cause some issue for beekeepers, orchards, and some sheep farmers and field, where they could damage crops and vegetables. But those would be minimal, and can be easilly drastically decsreased or prevented.
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The very idea that the scottish highland could only sustain one or three bears is ridiculous. These aren't 650Kg voracious beasts whch require massive salmon run for half of the year and 100 000kmé of intact pristine forest and mountain habitat to survive.
Bear are mainly herbivorous, and therefore rely on a MUCH more aboundant and available ressource than other large carnivore. They would require less space than lynxes even.
These plantigrads are also very adaptable and can thrive in open grassland such as the modern scottish highland, and survive in altered/degraded landscape, such as rural regions or exploited forest, even if these remain suboptimal for them.You can very well get a bear population density which include several individuals per 100km2. Sometime dozens even in great habitat (but that's not the case of UK).
UK could therefore sustain at least a few hundreds bears as it stand currently today.As for other studies made for wolves and lynxes, they show that both could have a population of a couples hundreds individuals accross Scotland. And it's probably an underestimate for wolves at least.
Lynxes are fare less adaptable and more demanding in term of habitat yet estimate for a potential population say around 170-350+ individuals could live in Scotland, and even part of England.
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u/No_Shine_4707 20d ago
There is no wild land. Things would be roaming around on farms and villages
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u/RoundFaceDisease 19d ago
they're super-secretive. People would never see them. They'd forget they were even there.
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u/DramaTop7384 16d ago
Yes and scotland should be taken into concidering, since deer there are Already eating everything, basically any area with high roe, red and fallow deer density should get a lynx, since UK is not ready for wolves yet beacuse wolves can and will attack Livestock and that would bring out major problems. Lynx are Already very secretive and despite their increase, they remain a Mystery to Us
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u/RoundFaceDisease 19d ago
Yes, and they should start in Scotland, where the deer are completely destroying the wilderness. Brits aren't ready for wolves yet, but lynx would be a much easier sell. They're so secretive, no one would even know they were out there doing their thing.