The folk who want to reintroduce lynx to Scotland are dreamers with no idea of even which direction reality is imo. Had some discussions with them a few years ago and this was so obvious.
I do not see this ever happening. The habitat lynx need is both rare and fragmented
The folk who want to reintroduce lynx to Scotland are dreamers with no idea of even which direction reality is imo.
Which people? There are several distinct groups. One group who flits around reintroduction schemes throughout the UK irritating the professionals in each area and then the well regarded groups such as the ones quoted in the article.
The habitat lynx need is both rare and fragmented
Its not. There is plenty of suitable habitat for a small population which would likely bring massive benefits in controlling and disturbing deer. Sadly the subsidy crowd are doing their best to prevent it though.
"Well, lynx are supposed to eat beaver ? and they are the main predator. They represent one of the main reasons that beaver are both nocturnal and quite shy".
I see what you did there . Fnaar Fnaar More childish giggles.
There’s footage in crazy legs link just prior to capture, and one of the Lynx is wandering around within a very short distance of multiple people. Suggests animals used to captivity?
Yeah and without details, we don't know if they were released some time ago and have approached houses now because of hunger/cold or if they've been released only recently. If the latter then it hardly looks like a "serious" attempt at re-wilding. A 20 minute drive from Drumguish would get to the Uath Lochans area where they might go un-noticed for weeks/months
I'm confused as to why anyone would release them during winter, let alone a particularly cold spell. Surely they've been out for some time and have come looking for food
How long can lynx go without food before becoming seriously weak, especially in cold weather?
I wouldn't expect it to be much longer than 3 or 4 days. I can't imagine that they have been in the wild for very long.
The fact that naturally very shy animals were apparently so easily caught suggests that they had no survival skills at all, so I can't imagine that they had been living successfully on their own for months or even weeks.
How long can lynx go without food before becoming seriously weak, especially in cold weather?
A quick Google seems to suggest they eat between 1.2 and 2.7kg of meat a day. After a big meal fasting is possible for a few days.
I've got a couple of feral cats living near me, occasionally they come looking for food, but even then they run as soon as you open the door and hide. You'll never get near them
I don't know if lynx are susceptible to hepatic lipidosis which is unique to cats, I can't see why they wouldn't be, but in a domestic cat it can be triggered by just 2-7 days of not eating.
Well I had to look that up but from what I've read it would suggest my feral cats are getting food regularly. They certainly aren't very scrawny
Those lynxes looked reasonably healthy but I can't say I've seen many.
I did see a black panther in Dumfries once though. Magnificent looking beast
I’m currently freezing my tits off in a layby on the A9 wearing only a furry bikini in the hope that someone tries to entice me into a van with a sausage supper.
You have to take your chances when you get them.
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Oh, do you have any links?
Not anymore. I had two until yesterday…
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Got to love this place!
Dissonance
As I remember it was the folk behind the kielder reintroduction attempt though it could have been hangers on but at the time I believed they were speaking as the folk behind the proposals
They were just full of nonsense saying farmers who lost livestock to them would be compensated using the money wildlife tourism would bring in but no mechanism for raising or collecting money and also suggested farmers should get guard llamas at the farmers cost.
Other idiocies as well . Completely detached from reality
For a reintroduction to work you need a breeding population and a large range for them. I doubt there are many places in the UK you could do it
I'd love to see it but i cannot see it happening
should get guard llamas at the farmers cost
Dunno about Llamas (I have memories of Alpacas working as guardian animals, will have to Google that one) but I know (one well, others through them) a few different smallholders in Ontario that use Donkeys as guardian animals against Coyotes. They've found all their livestock in the barn with the donkey stood in the open door not letting any of them out a few times, to then notice a Coyote on the fence line.
They don't get paid by anyone for that, it's just a measure some landowners pay for to protect their livestock against natural predators. So I can see why someone wanting Lynx reintroduction would argue to replicate that here. That said, they're in an environment where that predator isn't being reintroduced, so you've no arguments trying to get permission.
Edit, yes, Guard Llamas are a thing. Tbh, id be way more worried about camping with Guard Llamas in the area than Lynx. The spitting gits .
As an aside, the guardian donkey is called Albert and is a proper cool dude. I genuinely preferred Albert to Niagara Falls.
Its the idea that sheep farmers have to pay protect their flock from an introduced predator and that no real thought had been given to compensation if they do grt sheep eaten.
The European experience suggests that sheep predation is much rarer than you might think; lynx are programmed to eat roe deer first, then a range of harder to catch items like beaver and red deer. They're not particularly 'opportunistic' hunters, unlike dog based species. There are some pretty professional folk involved in the preparations for introduction, who have looked at the land and agree that there are several suitable areas for the release. Habitat with plenty of space, prey and cover.
Guard dogs for sheep flocks is a thing too. Common on the continent and there's a couple at Rothiemurchus bird of prey centre if you want a closer look. Useful against a number of predators, including sea eagles.
Another pair spotted this morning just a few miles away from where the first pair were captured
Two more Lynx have been spotted in the same are. Now I’m in a quandary. Do I head down now in the hope of getting a chase me chase me KOM or do I wait till the chip shop opens and take a sausage supper with me ?
In a 'my barber's cousin used to go out with a bloke who knew someone who met a gamekeeper in a bothy' kinda way, I heard that there are dozen out there. And if I recall the anecdote correctly, it's the same unnamed individual who released the beavers that's behind it.
Its the idea that sheep farmers have to pay protect their flock from an introduced predator and that no real thought had been given to compensation if they do grt sheep eaten.
First of all this the threat to sheep is minimal. Whilst there might be occasional killing across Europe the only place conflict has been really found is in Norway where they have an unusual system of having sheep in woodland vs pasture.
It has also been questioned how accurate the claims from the farmers are since, shock horror, if you make a nice profit opportunity some people will abuse it.
The serious schemes have actually looked at how to compensate if necessary but again the risks are pretty minimal and far outweighed by the benefits to society as a whole and also potentially to the farmers themselves in terms of crop and other predator controls.
I find it curious you are so firmly on the landowners side in this question bearing in mind the arguments are about the same level as those of landowners wanting to kill raptors to protect grouse moors.
My mate is quite a big player in beaver reintroductions.... will have to see what he knows
Looks like someone released four Lynx in Scotland and, so far, they've only recovered two of them!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6pxdxe4j9o
Do Lynx's and the required llamas carry ticks?
Looks like someone released four Lynx in Scotland and, so far, they’ve only recovered two of them!
Anecdotally there are at least a dozen out there, and 'they' know who is releasing them.
Another pair spotted this morning
FFS. As I said yesterday, it is a small group of people who would be involved in keeping lynx or even campaigning for their reintroduction, so I do wonder if they may find who is responsible. I do know there was a lynx group in the UK who were 'in trouble' for some of the silly claims being made a few years back, mainly from other conservation groups. You do wonder.
I assume there will be another BBQ and sausages on a stick in a cage later today for the next pair.
Anecdotally there are at least a dozen out there, and ‘they’ know who is releasing them.
A dozen?
It does seem to be very odd to release them a) in winter b) in such a populated part of the area. Even within a few miles there are multiple places which are quieter.
Or should mrs_oab and I take caution when we are wandering around Feshie this weekend?
Or should mrs_oab and I take kit e kat when we are wandering around Feshie this weekend
Ftfy
Dissonance
Im not on the landowners side. Its just the folk i was debating this with were unrealistic.
I am listening to what you say. I'd love to see them here. I just have my doubts about it from this set of discussions.
I do know there was a lynx group in the UK who were ‘in trouble’ for some of the silly claims being made a few years back, mainly from other conservation groups. You do wonder.
Maybe thats the folk i had contact with
Anyone with half an ounce of sense would release in spring surely?
Outstanding pun.
I do know there was a lynx group in the UK who were ‘in trouble’ for some of the silly claims being made a few years back, mainly from other conservation groups
Not just for lynx but also other reintroductions such as sea eagles in Wales which set back a campaign by other groups. They are apparently quite fond of lawyers as well when challenged.
It does seem to be very odd to release them a) in winter
I guess if they are semi wild they might have been further out but then came in once the cold hit? Although given how tame they seem be surprising they havent been seen earlier.
Its all very weird. Maybe its a case of someone simply not being able to look after them and deciding to release but then they are on the dangerous animals register to I suspect all the owners will be getting a visit from their local councils to do a count.
People talking about Roe deer and sheep…wouldn’t Lynx be far more likely to eat rabbits and hares? They’re not that big.
Thats what Canadian lynx live on and a few dogs when the rabbits get scarce.
and a few dogs when the rabbits get scarce.
That sounds like scaremongering to me. Have you got any lynx to prove that it is a common occurrence?
When do rabbits get scarce btw.....is there a rabbit season?
Thats what Canadian lynx live on
Presumably these are Eurasian Northern Lynx
is there a rabbit season
I googled it and found a quote from a hunter, he says "Be vewy vewy quiet; I'm hunting wabbits"
When do rabbits get scarce btw…..
They don't.
Its the idea that sheep farmers have to pay protect their flock from an introduced predator and that no real thought had been given to compensation if they do grt sheep eaten.
I know, that why I mentioned that difference in my post
Exactly! If Lynx don’t carry ticks then I’m more than happy to let them have their way with tick infested Bambi’s
Even if they do carry Ticks, I can't see the Lynx population growing to the size of the Deer population. Although herds of majestic Lynx traversing the landscape would be quite a sight
Our domestic cats carry ticks.
I remember going to see a Lynx introduction scheme in Portugal a few years ago. They said their main food was rabbit. IIRC they were hard work and didn't cope well when they stopped providing dead rabbits for them.
I live pretty close to the area the lynx have been spotted, maybe 4 or 5 miles away. There are loads of rabbits around the area. The rabbits are hungry as there’s not a lot of food for them this time of year with all the snow cover, lack of vegetation growth. There is a herd of deer. I see them sometimes when out cycling but there isn’t a huge amount of deer due to the local estates keeping the numbers down to allow trees to grow. There are lots of squirrels, field mice, moles, voles, some pine martens, capercaillie and other birds.
Winter is a tough time for them all I think.
Do Lynx eat capercaillie?
I'd be interested to know who it was released them. I mean where do you buy a lynx ? Not exactly the type of cat they sell at pet shops.
@oldtennisshoes Those'll be Iberian lynx which are a different species from Eurasian lynx, the difference is that Iberian lynx don't eat much except rabbits whereas Eurasian lynx are much more generalist.
