In Canada, we kill the lynx for their fur, because they’re in the wrong place in the wrong time, and sometimes, just for fun. But across the pond, the British couldn’t be more excited to have the big cats back.
The Lynx UK Trust, whom we recently wrote about, conducted the survey of British stakeholders and residents to find out how they felt about reintroducing the Eurasian Lynx. Their lynx was hunted and trapped into extinction over 1,000 years ago. And now they want them back.
“Of over 9,000 people who took part in the survey, 91% supporting a trial reintroduction and 84% believed it should begin within the next 12 months,” reports TheEcologist.org. The online news site went on to report comments from Dr. Paul O’Donoghue, the chief scientific advisor on the project.
“This is by far the biggest survey of its kind ever carried out in the UK, with almost five times the feedback of the original beaver reintroduction survey in Scotland which recorded an 86% approval rating,” Dr. O’Donoghue said. “That led to government approval for the trial reintroduction, so we're expecting to see a consistent response from Scottish Natural Heritage and hope for similar in England and Wales. The UK public have spoken. People overwhelmingly want these animals to be given the chance to come back and we've got an extremely capable team to deliver it.”
We will be watching with great anticipation to see how the project progresses – and what it could teach our own government about truly co-existing with wildlife.