Lynx - article in Sunday Times about reintroduction to control deer.

stecad

Well-Known Member
Interesting article in today's Times.
"Could help control Britains population of more than 1m wild deer which lack natural predators. Deer not only damage woodland by overgrazing but also eat the eggs of birds that nest on the ground or in low bushes"

Not in a million years, or have I just learned something new today:eek:
 
Interesting article in today's Times.


Not in a million years, or have I just learned something new today:eek:[/QUOTE


It's just possible that you have learned something new, I,have known of red deer destroying Grouse nests and eating the eggs, I always thought it was because of the lack of calcium in their diet, in the same way that they eat
cast antler and old bones they find on the hill.

In a lowland situation and in other species ?
 
Interesting article in today's Times.
"Could help control Britains population of more than 1m wild deer which lack natural predators. Deer not only damage woodland by overgrazing but also eat the eggs of birds that nest on the ground or in low bushes"

Not in a million years, or have I just learned something new today:eek:

no I've heard that hefore, did somebody not post on here a while back the YouTube clip of a deer eating a bird??
 
It'll never happen, can you imagine that Joe Public would be happy with releasing big cats into the wild? For all we know they are already there as reports of big cats at large often refer to lynx as the species involved but it's difficult to see the public embracing this. Apparently one of the three proposed sites is an unfenced estate in Norfolk and this must be the least likely to find public acceptance as the others would be in Scotland and Cumbria.

The idea is that the lynx would make a significant impact on the deer population and there are a number of issues here, firstly you'd need a lot of lynx to make an impact, and secondly it's entirely possible that lynx would find domestic stock more attractive. The only positive aspect of introducing lynx would be that they would be a better idea than wolves.
 
Its a bit precipitous to say it'll never happen - look what has happened over beavers (the animal not the .....) - nobody really wanted this and all experience from Scandinavia points against it - but its happening anyway - justifyyourjob.com??

Oddly, just last month one of our syndicate members found prints in the snow in our wood which looked very much like lynx - cat print way bigger than a 3006 shell.

Personally if I were a lynx I'd be buggered if I'd bother chasing a quick stringy deer when there are lots of slow juicy sheep captive in fields.
 
Like everything 'in theory' a lot of wot there saying makes sense, but often in practice it falls falt on its face.

It is probably more practical and do able than the ridiculaus idea to re-intro wolves, but it will cost an absolute fortune to do it properley. And as others have said unlee the lynx are very stupid they wil just target the slow stupid sheep rather than a fast deer.
I notice the scottis beavers are pretty much failing and numbers are either stable or decreasing yet i think the unoffical devon? beaver colony are thriving

Might be surprised how few lynx it would take to alter deer behaviour rather than actually bring numbers down, if u have a herd species using a wood and quite often something jumps on them and ripps hell out of there rump might not be so keen to go into the trees again. Dunno wot sort of kill rate % lynx have but would imagine they will chase and chase and catch afew that are not killed, will severely spook the rest of the herd. deer are clever and will soon learn not to go into the woods as much
 
Might not be a bad idea. Spread some Lynx about and it would make the fields smell nice. :D



OK, I'll get me coat :oops:
 
Start in London please, had enough of otters and whatever else these loonies come out with starting in Scotland.
They might mop up some of those troublesome urban foxes. :)
 
Start in London please, had enough of otters and whatever else these loonies come out with starting in Scotland.
They might mop up some of those troublesome urban foxes. :)
I agree with you its always the townies coming up with these crazy ideas, lets start by releasing a few in hyde park, might just improve the jogging speed
 
Its a bit precipitous to say it'll never happen - look what has happened over beavers (the animal not the .....) - nobody really wanted this and all experience from Scandinavia points against it - but its happening anyway - justifyyourjob.com??

Oddly, just last month one of our syndicate members found prints in the snow in our wood which looked very much like lynx - cat print way bigger than a 3006 shell.

Personally if I were a lynx I'd be buggered if I'd bother chasing a quick stringy deer when there are lots of slow juicy sheep captive in fields.

The thing is that I doubt the public would consider that there was a risk of being attacked by beavers, they also appear to be cute and cuddly. The reason I said it would never happen is that the public would never agree to the deliberate release of big (well medium sized) cats into the wild in this country. As I and others have said, they may already be there, but that's not the issue. All that would happen with a small number of lynx is that the deer would move away from the lynx territory and, if they don't switch to livestock, the lynx would probably follow them making the original release sites completely academic. If they were to be released they would become a target (legal or illegal) for shooters and struggle to survive long or in significant numbers.
 
The thing is though, in Scotland at least, the public may end up (like with beavers) having no or next to no input in the matter - it will be SNH's ultimate decision - though no doubt there will be a lot of politicking along the way.

You could see though that lynx might be portrayed as being as you say "cute and cuddly" - and not capable of running off with someones' toddler?

would consider that there was a risk of being attacked by beavers, they also appear to be cute and cuddly. The reason I said it would never happen is that the public would never agree to the deliberate release of big (well medium sized) cats into the wild in this country. As I and others have said, they may already be there, but that's not the issue. All that would happen with a small number of lynx is that the deer would move away from the lynx territory and, if they don't switch to livestock, the lynx would probably follow them making the original release sites completely academic. If they were to be released they would become a target (legal or illegal) for shooters and struggle to survive long or in significant numbers.[/QUOTE]
 
According to the report one of the folk behind this idea is a Mr Marmont, who owns a chunk of Aberdeenshire. Apparently, he is motivated by the fact that his estate had lots of Nightingales, but now they are all gone because their nests have been destroyed my Muntjac eating all the eggs. Peter Watson of the Deer Initiative is happy to endorse the idea, as he thinks it will reduce the number of people killed in deer/vehicle collisions. (I suspect that we would all have to be up to our armpits in Lynx before they had an impact on the number of deer/vehicle collisions.)

TBH the entire article is so confused it's hard to take any of it seriously. The outfit promoting the idea is called Lynx UK Trust and their website states they are a charitable organisation, which is a bit odd as they don't appear on the CC website. They do appear on the Companies House register as a Community Interest Company - which means they can't be a charity! They're obviously as confused as the reporter who wrote the article...
 
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According to the report one of the folk behind this idea is a Mr Huntley, who owns a chunk of Aberdeenshire. Apparently, he is motivated by the fact that his estate had lots of Nightingales, but now they are all gone because their nests have been destroyed my Muntjac eating all the eggs. Peter Watson of the Deer Initiative is happy to endorse the idea, as he thinks it will reduce the number of people killed in deer/vehicle collisions. (I suspect that we would all have to be up to our armpits in Lynx before they had an impact on the number of deer/vehicle collisions.)

TBH the entire article is so confused it's hard to take any of it seriously. The outfit promoting the idea is called Lynx UK Trust and their website states they are a charitable organisation, which is a bit odd as they don't appear on the CC website. They do appear on the Companies House register as a Community Interest Company - which means they can't be a charity! They're obviously as confused as the reporter who wrote the article...

This is ground breaking news as it sets new Northern limits for both nightingales and muntjac!
 
Surely we're not saying here that this person purports to have nightingales and muntjac in Aberdeenshire?

Must be at cross purposes - because there very definitely are none - unless they've just dropped out the van?
 
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