A WOODLAND that straddles the Scottish Borders has emerged as the preferred site to trial the reintroduction to the UK of the Eurasian lynx.
After months of consultations, the Lynx UK Trust chose Kielder Forest from a shortlist of five areas, clearing the way for local consultations.
Eurasian lynx are a rare modern wildlife success story, having dwindled to just 700 animals in Europe in the 1940s. But various conservation efforts, reintroductions and re-colonisations – where an expanding population reintroduced itself to several countries – have seen numbers climb to around 8,000, with no evidence of any attacks on humans and an extremely low predation rate on agricultural animals.
The trust said several key factors saw Kielder emerge as the favourite: its size, its economic situation and its low human population.
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