LONDON: Remote woodland sites in North and Mid Wales are being targeted by a project that is looking to reintroduce wild lynx to Britain after a gap of 1,300 years.
The Lynx UK Trust has already announced three potential reintroduction sites in England and Scotland, and is hopeful of agreeing one with a Welsh landowner by this summer.
It has launched a public consultation to determine public reaction to the plan, arguing that Lynx could help control Britain’s 1m-strong deer population.
Lacking natural predators, deer cause damage to woodland and eat the eggs of ground-nesting birds.
Dr Paul O’Donoghue, the trust’s chief scientific advisor, said: “Forests around these islands struggle against an over-abundance of deer, which is a classic problem to emerge when you lack apex predators.
“Wildcats and foxes can’t possibly control deer numbers, but lynx really can, and the economic possibilities for rural communities are incredible.”
Once consultations have concluded, Lynx UK Trust will lodge a formal licence application with Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage.
If the plan is given the green light, four to six Eurasian lynx wearing GPS-tracking collars will be released later this year at each of the sites.
The Trust accepts that sheep predation may be a small but unavoidable problem in places like Wales.
It has pledged a “considerable” fund to compensate farmers at twice the market value of sheep that are killed by lynx.
Trust spokesman Steve Piper said: “I’m not going to pretend that lynx don’t kill sheep, because they do, but the numbers are relatively small.
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