Page 82 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #06

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The Lynx and Us author
David Hetherington
thinks the cats could
enhance Scotland’s
nature-tourism earnings.

Laurent Geslin

BOOK
OF THE
BRING BACK MONTH
THE LYNX?

A scientific case for lynx reintroduction.
The Lynx and Us
by David Hetherington, photos by Laurent Geslin
Scotland: The Big Picture £25 Epitaph for the Ash The Long Spring
by Lisa Samson by Laurence Rose
HarperCollins £12.99 Bloomsbury £18.34
L
Lithuania has 193 human
s settlements named after wolves As the elms of Britain were Every year, two billion birds
a
and bears but only three after ravaged by disease the ash tree cross the Mediterranean to
l lynx, even though they have became a vital habitat for our breed in Europe. Naturalist
a
always existed there. This fauna and flora. Now this tree Laurence Rose follows their epic
a anonymity makes the lynx a with its mythological healing journeys north from “the sweat
c candidate for reintroduction to properties, the namesake of of Africa to the ice of the high
landscapes now devoid of l many of our towns and villages, Arctic”. Travelling by train, bus,
landscapes now devoid of large predators. In particular,
David Hetherington would like to bring the lynx back to is under threat as well. Lisa boat, bicycle and on foot, he
Scotland, where it has not been seen since the Middle Ages. Samson’s prognosis was as encounters new arrivals in each
The lynx is a solitary, low density species with a large precarious as the tree she grew so of the countries that he passes
home range. Its favourite food is roe deer, devourer of close to when she was diagnosed through, from hoopoes in
woodland. Even when reintroduced to areas with naive prey, with a brain tumour. Her quest to southern Spain to bluethroats
it settles down to an average harvest of 3–10 per cent, travel the length and breadth of in the north of Norway. Along
enough to ameliorate the wider environment without the land takes us on a leafy green the way, Rose also considers the
hammering the deer population. Its impact on humans and jewel of a journey into a kingdom impact that changes in climate
livestock is limited. Read this beautifully illustrated that will change the way you look and conservation policy have
introduction to decide for yourself if they should return. at the ash tribe forever. had on migration.
Stephen Mills Wildlife writer Miriam Darlington Nature writer Pete Dommett Wildlife writer
82 BBC Wildlife June 2018