Lynx could reappear in England after 1300 years to control the deer population

#Lynx #Britain #livestock #gamebirds #rewilding Lynx are a species of wild cats that can weigh up to 70lb and proposals are doing the rounds to bring them back into England after a lapse of 1300 years in order to check the gradually increasing numbers of deer as reported in dailymail.co.uk dated 9 March 2015.
Lynx prey mainly on deer and experts want to release into woodland in Norfolk, Cumbria and Aberdeenshire as part of an ambitious ‘rewilding’ scheme. The plan is to release the animals onto privately owned estates but, the woodland would not have any fencing and the animals would be free to roam around the countryside.
The plan devised by the Lynx Trust envisages releasing four to six of the cats at each site and each of them will wear a tracking device so that their movements can be monitored. The lynx are the size of a large dog and has powerful claws for climbing. The objective is to release them into areas that are rich in deer and trees.
The argument of scientists is that such an introduction will benefit the ecosystem because it would not only help to control the one million plus deer population in UK but will also boost the tourist economy. However, critics do not agree because by farmers are worried that the animals would savage their livestock and game birds.
They are after all animals and cannot be told to eat only the deer.