Page 14 - World of Animals - Issue #33

The missing lynx

The return of the missing lynx

Could reintroducing this solitary wild cat be beneficial to the British countryside?
Rewilding is the name given to the attempt to return land to The primary reason for the decline in habitat has
a more natural state. Sadly, there is not one patch of land in been attributed to the loss of predator species and the
the UK that has not been altered in some way by humans. subsequent increase in ungulates. Heavy grazing from deer
This is due, in part, to the idealised view many people have and the encroachment of sheep into woodland prevents
of our countryside and the management schemes that regeneration, creating large open spaces. The health of an
respond by keeping fields and woodlands neat and tidy. This ecosystem is controlled from the top down. Apex predators,

has resulted in a landscape that is so far removed from what like the lynx, control the numbers of large herbivores and
it once was that it’s no longer able to support the wildlife mid-level predators, which in turn relieves pressure on the
that should be there. smaller animals and plants further down the chain.
Around 6,000 years ago, 75 per cent of Britain’s The topic of releasing wild carnivores often causes a
landscape was covered by forest. These woods were knee-jerk reaction. There is still much discussion to be had
home to as many as 7,000 lynx. It’s a figure that’s almost before trials. However, introductions in other areas of Europe

unrecognisable today as only 13 per cent of the UK is now suggest a rewilding programme in the UK has the potential
forested land – one third of the European average. to be successful.
The lynx could help The

reintroduction
improve our ecosystem of the Eurasian lynx in
Europe has been a success.
Population numbers were as
Described as a ‘keystone species’, the lynx is an apex low as 700 from 1930 to 1950
predator with the ability to shape its environment but numbers are on the rise,
with populations extending
A keystone species is an animal that is able to influence a across Europe, central

landscape. Without keystone species, habitats can look very Siberia and
different. The dramatic decline of woodland in Britain is often East Asia.
attributed to the lack of a large predator like the lynx.

Lynx
Fox
There are currently an estimated
33,000 urban foxes and 225,000
rural foxes in the UK. Foxes,
particularly urban ones, are
becoming braver in their search
for food.

Roe deer Muntjac Sheep Hare Pheasant
Roe deer became extinct in The large numbers Sheep are not a preferred While lynx do occasionally The pheasant is again prey
the 18th century due to over- prevent woodland coppice prey of the lynx, but some hunt hare, their population to the lynx and the fox,
hunting, but reintroductions regeneration and are argue that keeping sheep would increase with lynx but similarly, populations
have seen their population driving some plant species away from woodland edges around as the fox is their would rise if the lynx was
soar to over 500,000. to extinction. would eliminate temptation. main predator, reintroduced.

“75 per cent of Britain’s

landscape was covered by
Woodland
If the pressure of deer and forest. These woods were
overgrazing was relieved,
Britain’s landscape would look home to as many as 7,000 lynx”

very different to how it does now.
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