Lynx Escape - Dartmoor Zoo

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GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
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They keep talking about introducing the lynx to the UK, surely Dartmoor would be a perfect place to start, i say let a few breading pairs out and leave em too it
 

sunndog

Full Member
May 23, 2014
3,561
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derbyshire
it will be interesting to see if the hunting instinct is still there...

Oh they will be.....and better than any of ours by a mile


Can't bring myself to think of a lynx as 'dangerous' maybe if you manage to end up sharing an outside toilet with it you might get scratched up as it tries to find a way out.....i'd be more scared of a badger in the bog lmao

Finding it is likely to be a chance encounter. Tracking it very far would be nigh on impossible......quickly getting lots of people and a general direction would be the best chance they had
 
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Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,438
2,859
W.Sussex
By hunting I didn't mean hunting to kill, I meant it as in finding the animal. And you didn't specify trackers, or call for professionals. You said "would anyone be interested".

Of course tranquilizer darts were available to my dad, but with the situation as it was, a decision had to be made over the ability of a large animal to be tranquilized quickly. So the bear was killed. As will the Lynx if it attacks anyone. Not that it's likely to.

Hope you find it alive and well, but it escapes your attempts to put it back into captivity while the zoo is building a bigger fence.
 
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TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
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By hunting I didn't mean hunting to kill, I meant it as in finding the animal.
Pretty sure most definitions of 'Hunting' include the Killing aspect. Your reading into my post on a word that isn't there isn't my problem.

And you didn't specify trackers, or call for professionals. You said "would anyone be interested".

The post was placed in the ' TRACKING ' area - not 'Other Chatter' or anywhere else - and Yes I did say would anyone be interested - ideally people with experience that would be ascertained via a verbal vetting process - not by me but someone such as Ian 'Max' Maxwell who lives in the westcountry and did the tracking for the BBC Big Cat Diaries.

I don't have to explain everything from the start to see who may be interested - surely.


Of course tranquilizer darts were available to my dad, but with the situation as it was, a decision had to be made over the ability of a large animal to be tranquilized quickly. So the bear was killed. As will the Lynx if it attacks anyone. Not that it's likely to.

You seem to be transferring the associated negative emotions of this experience , which I agree sounds pretty harrowing , onto this post. IMO.
If the Lynx is found then I hope its is darted and returned. Not that I necessarily agree with the captivity aspect but its a question of responsibility to the Animal AND the local Community. I think Dartmoor is far too small and rich in Farms and Tourists to make it a viable location for Wild Lynx's to be released.


Hope you find it alive and well, but it escapes your attempts to put it back into captivity while the zoo is building a bigger fence.

Me too.
 

dewi

Full Member
May 26, 2015
2,647
12
Cheshire
By hunting I didn't mean hunting to kill, I meant it as in finding the animal. And you didn't specify trackers, or call for professionals. You said "would anyone be interested".

Of course tranquilizer darts were available to my dad, but with the situation as it was, a decision had to be made over the ability of a large animal to be tranquilized quickly. So the bear was killed. As will the Lynx if it attacks anyone. Not that it's likely to.

Hope you find it alive and well, but it escapes your attempts to put it back into captivity while the zoo is building a bigger fence.

Okay, so same as same.

3yr old child goes missing... do you use the term 'hunting' to describe finding said child?

Yes, I'm being pedantic, but its an overgrown pussy cat that is probably more scared of us than we are of it. Its not in its natural habitat and any of the locals who see it (read farmers) will shoot it. Better to capture it and take it back where it lived... bugger the zoo. A zoo is a death sentence for an animal... they are no more acceptable now than the freak shows of the past that paraded disable people for cash.

I went to Blackpool Zoo a year or so ago whilst on holiday there... and frankly the elephant was deranged, the orangutans were depressed and the tigers would rip anyone into shreds because they were contained in ****e circumstances. It was depressing to wander round... it wasn't educational or entertaining.... I was genuinely upset and I'm not a great animal lover to be fair.
 

TeeDee

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Nov 6, 2008
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Okay, so same as same.

3yr old child goes missing... do you use the term 'hunting' to describe finding said child?

Yes, I'm being pedantic, but its an overgrown pussy cat that is probably more scared of us than we are of it. Its not in its natural habitat and any of the locals who see it (read farmers) will shoot it. Better to capture it and take it back where it lived... bugger the zoo. A zoo is a death sentence for an animal... they are no more acceptable now than the freak shows of the past that paraded disable people for cash.

I went to Blackpool Zoo a year or so ago whilst on holiday there... and frankly the elephant was deranged, the orangutans were depressed and the tigers would rip anyone into shreds because they were contained in ****e circumstances. It was depressing to wander round... it wasn't educational or entertaining.... I was genuinely upset and I'm not a great animal lover to be fair.

I'm tempted to ask why you went in the 1st place then? ( Zoo ) - as this thread seems to be determined to many to go off track , hell- why not! Why did you go or did you have that thought whilst you were there?
 

TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
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I see Bikething is reading this Post and I know / remember he lives on the Moor.

Thoughts Bikething?? Lynx to be released onto the Moor.
 

dewi

Full Member
May 26, 2015
2,647
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Cheshire
I'm tempted to ask why you went in the 1st place then? ( Zoo ) - as this thread seems to be determined to many to go off track , hell- why not! Why did you go or did you have that thought whilst you were there?

My mother in law paid for us to go on the holiday. We stayed in a posh hotel, we ate in nice restaurants, and she paid for me, my wife and my 3 kids to go to the zoo. As a faithful husband, I went along... and to be fair when my mother-in-law saw the animals, saw the elephant pacing back and forth, see the orangutans sitting looking at us in a depressed state, she agreed... the zoo shouldn't be admitting anyone. It was horrible.

I haven't even touched on the wolves... again, genuinely upsetting... especially riding past them with the kids on a mini train.

My kids knew. They shouted out that the animals looked sad. As did my wife and I but in a less than jumpy abouty way.

I would never go again, neither would anyone else in my family.... what was supposed to be a nice day out ended up with us all being far less than happy.

Honestly TD, it was not a nice day... and for me, that elephant.... I'll not forget that ever.
 

TeeDee

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Nov 6, 2008
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Unfortunately I can see the Pro's AND Con's of Zoo's.

Its a juggling act of Animal welfare , Commerce and Education - I don't know many that can get the three aspects 'right' but I can see why Children can learn from a Good Zoo.

Just my thoughts.
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
Unfortunately I can see the Pro's AND Con's of Zoo's.

Its a juggling act of Animal welfare , Commerce and Education - I don't know many that can get the three aspects 'right' but I can see why Children can learn from a Good Zoo.

Just my thoughts.
The only thing children can learn from a zoo, is that it's cruel.
Wild animals should be exactly that, wild.
I know these are generation upon generation of captivity breeding but I feel there's no place for these cages in today's society.
Parks? Hmmm , maybe ... adequate space and exercise is a must.

Monkey world for instance , a good example of what can be done with education and human interaction.

International bird of prey centre, same.
They seem to focus more on the rescue and rehabilitation of the animal , conservation and relocation (back into wild if possible) .
Just them cages get my back up...

Sorry , off track...

Rant over
 
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dewi

Full Member
May 26, 2015
2,647
12
Cheshire
Unfortunately I can see the Pro's AND Con's of Zoo's.

Its a juggling act of Animal welfare , Commerce and Education - I don't know many that can get the three aspects 'right' but I can see why Children can learn from a Good Zoo.

Just my thoughts.

Fair play... visit Blackpool Zoo and have a look at the elephant... then see what what children can learn from an animal that is obviously mentally deranged.

Sorry but you can't just sit on the fence and get splinters up your ****... either you're for or against animals in captivity.

Animals have wandered the Earth as long as we have... we coexist... and one way or the other we live together. How about we select random humans and stick them in a cage? They'll be interesting to look at as they wander about eh?
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Unfortunately I can see the Pro's AND Con's of Zoo's.

Its a juggling act of Animal welfare , Commerce and Education - I don't know many that can get the three aspects 'right' but I can see why Children can learn from a Good Zoo.

Just my thoughts.

Zoos are also the last chance for the survival of some species; Red Wolves come to mind.

Fair play... visit Blackpool Zoo and have a look at the elephant... then see what what children can learn from an animal that is obviously mentally deranged.

Sorry but you can't just sit on the fence and get splinters up your ****... either you're for or against animals in captivity.

Animals have wandered the Earth as long as we have... we coexist... and one way or the other we live together. How about we select random humans and stick them in a cage? They'll be interesting to look at as they wander about eh?

I grew up as a farmer. Of course I believe in animals in captivity. Domesticated or not is irrelevant.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
.......If this one has been in captivity all its life, it will be interesting to see if the hunting instinct is still there...

Fascinating animals the felines

Oh they will be.....and better than any of ours by a mile


Can't bring myself to think of a lynx as 'dangerous' maybe if you manage to end up sharing an outside toilet with it you might get scratched up as it tries to find a way out.....i'd be more scared of a badger in the bog lmao

Finding it is likely to be a chance encounter. Tracking it very far would be nigh on impossible......quickly getting lots of people and a general direction would be the best chance they had

Even domesticated cats retain their hunting instint so of course a Lynx will.

As to it being more afraid of us or being difficult to find? Well, maybe. Then again, most wild animals that come into frequent contact with humans (particularly if they're fed by humans as this Lynx surely was in captivity) tend to lose their fear.

Dangerous? Not likely to humans unless a child tries to feed the cute kitty. Could be devastating to small to medium sized farm livestock though; particularly if indeed it has lost its fear of man.
 
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TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
10,451
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Exeter
The only thing children can learn from a zoo, is that it's cruel.
Wild animals should be exactly that, wild.
I know these are generation upon generation of captivity breeding but I feel there's no place for these cages in today's society.
Parks? Hmmm , maybe ... adequate space and exercise is a must.

Monkey world for instance , a good example of what can be done with education and human interaction.

International bird of prey centre, same.
They seem to focus more on the rescue and rehabilitation of the animal , conservation and relocation (back into wild if possible) .
Just them cages get my back up...

Sorry , off track...


Rant over

Zoo's , Parks , Reservations.... surely we are now just getting down to semantics? I did say I don't know many that get it right didn't I?

For Children from a poored less entitled background that won't ever safari with Mummy and Daddy in Africa , Yes i can see advantages of visiting a GOOD Zoo for educational purposes. Even if they by chance visit a BAD Zoo maybe they will have the same latter day epiphany as Dewi and become an advocate of better conditions and awareness of animal Stewardship.
 

TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
10,451
3,654
50
Exeter
Fair play... visit Blackpool Zoo and have a look at the elephant... then see what what children can learn from an animal that is obviously mentally deranged.

Sorry but you can't just sit on the fence and get splinters up your ****... either you're for or against animals in captivity.

Animals have wandered the Earth as long as we have... we coexist... and one way or the other we live together. How about we select random humans and stick them in a cage? They'll be interesting to look at as they wander about eh?



"Sorry but you can't just sit on the fence and get splinters up your ****... either you're for or against animals in captivity."

To that I'd say Poppy cock. I think the ability to apply Critical Thinking and see reality with a balanced and rational mind IS a good thing. Its not about sitting on the fence , because the Fence you speak of is a perspective that YOU have created in your own mind. Its a question of ' You are either with us or against us' - Rocking horse Poop to that statement.

Just because I see things in a different way ( and a different possible path forward ) to you , please don't think you know me or can tell me what my opinion is or should be.

Your comments about sticking Humans in a cage is asinine and banal - but there are many examples ( which I don't back ) to suggest we have already done this - " Big Brother" anyone?




A few years ago I spent a month doing some unpaid Eco-Tourism for a reserve in South Africa , long story short , the owner was a passionate protector and conservation of native game - a conversation came up about Rhino Poaching and how it could be combated , his response - which to ME shows Critical Thinking , but to you may show him 'sitting on the fence ' ( LOL!! ) was that to control and limit Rhino poaching then Rhinos needed to be protected and 'farmed' harvested by a controlling government organization - as none exists and nearly all reserves are privately owned then this was unlikely to happen. Also the subject of 'Canned hunting' came up - and again I can see the logic that if you won't be able to stop certain people wanting to hunt Big Game , at least be in a position to control it - if one old & injured sanctioned Lions death means the funds from that death can go on to protect and
help in the conservation of Five more healthy Lions that go onto breed and be protected then surely conservation wins doesn't it?

But there you go , a Conservation expert advocating ( him ) suggesting canned hunting and rhino horn selling.

Yes he sure is sitting on the fence.
 
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Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
I'm sorry but I disagree with you on this one ....

Zoo's , Parks , Reservations.... surely we are now just getting down to semantics?
Not at all ! Totally disagree , they're all different applications. Not same approach under different names.
You cannot compare a reservation with a zoo or with a park for that matter.
They are different, the size is usually a give away...

Wolves in Yellowstone (national park)
Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, or KAZA (reservation).....

Bristol Zoo....
See what I mean?

For Children from a poored less entitled background that won't ever safari with Mummy and Daddy in Africa , Yes i can see advantages of visiting a GOOD Zoo for educational purposes.

What is the educational purpose of visiting a zoo? please iluminate us...
Unless you're seeing the animals in its natural environment or similar, how can you evaluate or study it's natural behaviour, on a educational capacity...?

Even if they by chance visit a BAD Zoo maybe they will have the same latter day epiphany as Dewi and become an advocate of better conditions and awareness of animal Stewardship.


Meh
 

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