A mountain rescue hero has told how he came across a pair of lynx that had been illegally released into the Scottish Highlands.
Willi Anderson, deputy team leader of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, said he came within 60 yards of the wild cats, which have since been recaptured. “They had definitely been illegally released because they were 100 yards from a pile of straw bedding that contained dead chicks and interestingly porcupine quills – the bedding was peppered with porcupine quills,” said Mr Anderson.
“They were very tame and you could see they had been released from a nearby layby because there was the straw there too. They were only 100 yards from that spot and the road. I don’t think they would have survived in the wild.” Mr Anderson had contacted the nearby Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park near Kincraig after being told by a neighbour about the animals.
“The park had traps they use for their Scottish wildcat reintroduction programme, so they left baited cages and incredibly they caught both. The cages also had cameras so staff could monitor them,” said Mr Anderson. “To catch one lynx in a cage was great but two was really fantastic. I have done a few rescues in my time but this was one of the more unusual events that I have come across.”
Big cats captured in wild in Scottish Highlands after ‘highly irresponsible act’
The lynx have since been recaptured after they were set loose
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Royal Zoological Society of Scot / SWNS)
The pair were snapped by a local in snowy woodland on Wednesday. They were spotted in the Drumguish area, near to Kingussie.
Today the nearby Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park, near Kincraig in the Highlands, said they had taken care of the animals, who would probably not have survived in the countryside. “We have successfully captured the two lynx that were illegally released into the Highlands,” said the park.
“Working with Police Scotland, experts from our wildlife conservation charity humanely trapped the cats overnight and took them to the park’s quarantine facilities. We plan to move them from the park to Edinburgh Zoo in the near future where our expert veterinary team will assess their health and welfare. We condemn the illegal release of these lynx in the strongest possible terms. It is very unlikely they would have survived in the wild.”
Police are investigating the illegal release and had urged the public not to approach the wild cats. The alarm was raised at around 4:20pm on Wednesday. The Cairngorms National Park Authority said they were shy and a “low risk” to humans but added they should not be approached. A spokesperson said: “We condemn the illegal release of wild animals in the strongest possible terms and we are also concerned for the welfare of the lynx that have been released.”
The illegal release of the lynx was strongly condemned
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Royal Zoological Society of Scot / SWNS)
The lynx were once native in Britain but have long been extinct in the country
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Image:
Royal Zoological Society of Scot / SWNS)
The wild cats were once native to Britain, but were driven to extinction 500 to 1,000 years ago. But some conservation groups have been campaigning to have the wild cats reintroduced to Scotland.
Lynx to Scotland, a three-charity partnership working to restore lynx to the Scottish Highlands, said it had been made aware of the release. Peter Cairns, executive director of Scotland: The Big Picture, one of the charities involved, said: “The Lynx to Scotland Project knows nothing of the origin of these two lynx, their history, health status, or who may have released them.
“We understand the frustration of all those who wish to see lynx restored to the Scottish landscape, but an illegal release is not the way to achieve that aim.” Mr Cairns said the project had never supported or condoned illegal releases.
He added: “This is unwelcome and grossly irresponsible, but comes at the worst possible time, when stakeholders are engaging in good faith with productive discussions about the possibility of a responsibly managed and fully resourced legal reintroduction.”
RSPB Scotland said it was collaborating with the police, relevant governing bodies and partner organisations. A spokesperson said: “Whilst we support lynx reintroduction as a formerly native species to Scotland, we work within official conservation translocation guidelines and therefore do not support unofficial releases which only set back approved conservation projects.”
But backers of the re-introduction are convinced these two animals had been illegally released by someone who has grown tired of the legal process and taken the law into their own hands. It has happened before with another species.
Beavers were released illegally in Perthshire while consultations over their formal reintroduction were still ongoing and the population has since exploded. And a fox was seen on the Isle of Harris in 2006 – where the animal is not present, causing a major ecological threat to existing wildlife. It was believed to have been released there by people trying to avoid it being hunted. It appears to have disappeared with no further sightings.
The RZSS runs both Highland Wildlife Park and Edinburgh Zoo.