Two Scandinavian billionaires who have vast tracts of land in remote regions of Scotland hope to reintroduce the wild lynx into their lands.
Anders Holch Povlsen, 48, a $ 6 billion Danish billionaire who is considered the largest landowner in the UK, with an empire of around 220,000 acres, and Lisbet Rausing, an heiress to Tetra Pak, who owns another 80,000 acres Scottish Highlands, are funding research aimed at reintroducing the predator, British newspaper The times reports.
The lynx was wiped out in Scotland and the rest of the UK by hunting and habitat loss about 500 years ago; however, populations survive in central and northern Europe.
The Eurasian lynx can be up to 27 inches tall at the shoulder and weigh around 60 pounds, making them considerably larger than the Canadian lynx and lynx seen in some regions of North America.
They eat about five pounds of meat a day. Its purely carnivorous diet means that many sheep farmers, a powerful lobby in the region, are strongly opposed to its reintroduction. National Farmers Union Scotland strongly opposed a previous proposal to reintroduce the lynx into a forest near Loch Lomond, The times reports.
However, evidence of public support for the reintroduction of the lynx may prompt the regulator NatureScot to issue a license allowing for the dramatic reforestation plan. A new one-year study costing $ 65,000 is being funded by Povlsen and Rausing.
Supporters argue that farmers will be compensated for any cattle killed by the lynx, as is often the case in other officially managed reintroductions of locally extinct species. They also say that the lynx would help regenerate the forest by feeding on deer that nibble on young trees, hampering their growth. A charity that supports the lynx reintroduction proposals said it believed there was enough habitat and prey in Scotland to support around 500 lynx.
Peter Cairns, Scotland’s executive director: The Big Picture, said the study aimed to “bypass tribal leaders” at entities like NFU Scotland and speak to individual farmers.
He said the lynx reintroduced into the Highlands would spread and could cross into northern England.