However it would need robust safeguards especially for farmers and none hve been proposed?

I thought funding had been proposed (above and beyond the normal tax payer subsidies)?

The reviews in Europe are mixed. The only place there seems to be a significant issue is in Norway where the sheep are left free ranging into wooded areas.  Elsewhere with farming practices more similar to the UK numbers lost are low.

x6 Sheep / Lambs killed by Pet Dogs in White Coppice area in May 2018 to add some balance

I imagine if the conversation were about legalising dog ownership after centuries of not being allowed them the argument would be firmly in the “no, too much risk, mess, etc” camp.

But a dog’s got personality.  Personality goes a long way

So does a small dog if TJ catches it with his boot.

Do you not dig bacon?

So does a small dog if TJ catches it with his boot.

He wouldn’t be so keen to hoof a lynx in the slats i’ll wager.

Do you not dig bacon?

Bacon tastes good. Pork chops taste good.

Basically, what i’m saying is …..

It would need to be one charming mother***** lynx

dissonance – they had not identified where the funding for compensation would come from – just claimed there would be compensation available

The lynx has been protected here in Spain for a number of years and is slowly making a comeback, it was down to less than a hundred at one point. I’m not aware of any complaints from farmers about sheep going missing – unlike the complaints you can hear now with the wolf slowly making a comeback in central Spain…

Of course, Britain already has an ongoing rewilding experiment with dangerous wild animals ongoing,,, accidentally.

Radio 4 programme on Wild Boar very interesting, particularly the realisation of the level of cull needed just to keep on top of the population, and of course the political aspects of culling.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080wbwy

TJ, on the red/roe issue, IIRC the NTS were somewhat surprised that after spending £££ slaughtering the red at Mar Lodge to get their precious “fence free” trees established, they found that the roe population exploded to fill the vacuum, only they are a shed load more difficult to cull than reds on the hill (as they are territorial woodland animals) so they are still paying out £££ on an endless cycle. FWIW It’s my opinion that “lots of small fenced areas” is the best way to establish regeneration and a healthy mosaic of woodland growth rather than trying to fence the perimeter, and still leaves a healthy, sustainable red deer population that can follow traditional patterns and overwinter in the forest rather than starve on the hill.

On the Lynx, as I said above, great idea, but these people just aren’t the ones to come up with any sort of realistic plan to do it.

Yes, my mog is 10kg and while he isn’t fat either, at just over 3feet long nose to tail is perfectly capable of taking brown hares when the mood takes him.  He’s got no Maine Coon nor Norwegian in him either; he’s just a big, ginger furry lump.  It’s the second cat beast I’ve had that size; his predecessor was even longer and delighted in running down rabbits on open grassland, just because he could…  both came from hill farms in Angus and I weaned both on venison trimmings.

I think that 30kg for a wild lynx in Scotland is overly optimistic, as in this country they will be ‘living on the edge’ all the time and are unlikely to reach the weight of those in friendlier environments.  Again, I’d love to see them here as a viable population but suspect that realistically, the only areas in the UK that might be able to support them would be north of the Great Glen, Affric and northwards.  I understand that they do best in mixed and broken woodland, so their territory might be quite limited.