Campaigners push to bring lynx back to UK within months

It is nearly 1,300 years since the lynx last prowled the British countryside but it could be back in as little as eight months if campaigners for the elegant wildcat have their way.

"We're aiming for the end of this year," said Paul O'Donoghue, chief scientific adviser to the Lynx UK Trust, which has been quietly working on reintroducing the creature for more than two years.

"We've already got animals lined up from across Europe," he added, explaining the conservation charity is preparing to submit formal applications to Natural England and Scottish National Heritage to bring Eurasian lynx to sites in Norfolk, Cumbria, Northumberland and Aberdeenshire.

Up to six cats would be released at each site for a trial period of three to five years.

The move comes as countries across Europe reintroduce beavers, bison, lynx and wolves that once roamed much more widely across the continent.

The beaver is already being brought back in parts of Britain and there is just as much public support for the lynx, according to survey results that the trust released on Monday.

But the prospect is alarming sheep farmers fearful their animals will become prey.

The National Sheep Association is preparing to fight against the lynx's return, which its chief executive, Phil Stocker, says could have "a damaging impact on farmers' livelihoods".

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"Sheep farming is fairly marginal for an awful lot of people. They need encouragement, not added burdens and risks," said Mr Stocker, adding the numbers of sheep killed per year may not be high but some animals were extremely valuable.

"If it was a ram, it might be worth £25,000. Is there going to be compensation for that?" he said.

The Lynx UK Trust says such fears are largely unfounded and the economic benefits to the country could be as much as £20m a year.

"Lynx are not significant sheep predators," said Mr O'Donoghue, adding that the reintroduction of sea eagles to the Isle of Mull in Scotland had fuelled tourism worth about £5m a year.

"The lynx are far more charismatic than sea eagles, so I would predict you are talking about three to four times that value," he said.

The value of the lynx, the trust says, is its ability to control populations of deer that have spiralled so much in the absence of natural predators that the animals are stripping forests and fields bare.

The lynx would help reduce this crop damage by predation as well as boosting eco-tourism, said Mr O'Donoghue, adding that the trust is also working on plans to compensate farmers if any sheep are lost.

Any payments would probably not be large, according to Steve Piper, a spokesman for the trust.

In Germany, which reintroduced the lynx some years ago, sheep farmers are paid about €1,000 (£700) a year for lost animals, he said, which amounted to about one to two sheep killed per cat each year.

In the UK, the number of sheep that could be killed each year would probably be from 30 to 60, he said.

As part of the trust's plans, more than 9,000 people were surveyed online in March.

Just over 90 per cent supported a trial reintroduction of the lynx and 84 per cent said it should happen within the next 12 months, the trust said on Monday.

More than half of those surveyed were from rural areas and the trust says their support was only 5-6 per cent lower than that of residents of urban communities.

Another poll, which canvassed just over 1,000 people, recorded up to 70 per cent support for lynx reintroduction.

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