Breaking that down that's just 78.1 square miles (50,000 divided by 640) or less than 8 miles x 9 miles) I don't know the range of lynxes (ours or European ones) but that doesn't really sound like a lot. Especially for a sustainable population.
Talk of reintroducing lynx
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Breaking that down that's just 78.1 square miles (50,000 divided by 640) or less than 8 miles x 9 miles) I don't know the range of lynxes (ours or European ones) but that doesn't really sound like a lot. Especially for a sustainable population.
You're kinda right. It's the "state" land (state forests) but it's also on the national land (national forests) But it's not really "free." Cheap? Yes. A state hunting license is required (mine is the Gold Sportsman which covers small game hunting, deer hunting, most the special endorsements (bowhunting, muzzle loader hunting, state duck stamp, etc) saltwater fishing, and freshwater fishing, and any fees for special wildlife management areas; all in a single combined license. The full price is $100 annually but as a retired or active duty military member mine was only $20.
There's also a a public shooting range on National Forest land just across the Alabama state line that's free to holders of the Alabama hunting license.
That would be about 202 square kilometers which would be sufficient for one male and one female lynx.
They really need a lot of space so even if they're reintroduced, I wouldn't be too concerned about it.
It is true however, that the lynx also hunts sheep. Measures can be taken with little effort though. One very effective one is the keeping of livestock guardian dogs alongside the sheep as is done in the Carpatian Mountains for example.
Here in southern Germany wolf and lynx are back in very small numbers but we do have the same discussion. People with sheep fear for their flock and hunters are no friend of predators as they basically put their sport out of function because the population of deer would not have to be regulated by the hunter anymore. But we're far away from such conditions.
I too think the conclusions here are sound and well thought out; much of this is applicable to the UK mainland, which although much larger than Ireland is still a very small island in the larger scheme of things.
Our forests stretch for thousands of miles.
Over half a million square miles. You can walk for hundreds and hundreds of miles without ever seeing anything man made.If that is the size of your forest you have then your lynx I think will have problems. They need 100% forest. You never see the lynx here more than a few yards from the tree line.
I think that the public outcry would go against it. We still seem to have the belief that foxes do lots of damage to sheep stocks in this country and I don't really think it's the case. A fox that knows the area will mainly subsist on small game, worms, beetles and carrion. Kill one that knows the area and the one that moves in (they always do) wont know the area as well and so may be tempted into easy targets in order to eat, hence the attacks on poultry and game pens. Apart from the very rare rogue fox I think most perceived fox predation on sheep is actually foxes eating lambs that have died of other causes.
Folk wont accept a larger and more powerful predator being introduced I don't think. Remember the national panic when Hercules the bear escaped in 1980? On the loose for 24 days on Benbecula but people panicked and thought he'd swim to the mainland and murder us all in our beds.
I think that it would be a bit daft to reintroduce a predator into an ecosystem that's gone without them for so long, to many variables would have to be adjusted to be fair to them and others existing alongside them.
Folk wont accept a larger and more powerful predator being introduced I don't think. Remember the national panic when Hercules the bear escaped in 1980? On the loose for 24 days on Benbecula but people panicked and thought he'd swim to the mainland and murder us all in our beds.
I think that it would be a bit daft to reintroduce a predator into an ecosystem that's gone without them for so long, to many variables would have to be adjusted to be fair to them and others existing alongside them.
It's quite common for ecologists to assume that predators are successful 10% of the time.
Lynx where I live in the mountains compete with cougars and Bobcats.
Common prey are grouse and rabbits, same as where Joe lives in N Ontario.
More than once, I've been told by observers that approaching a covey of grouse, there has been a Lynx close by with the same idea.
More than a decade ago, I began to hunt birds with #6 nontoxic shot, usually steel. I field dress the birds and the leavings don't last
20 minutes after I move on.
If you had cougars, then you might see some attacks on sheep and deer. We do. . . . . kills buried right in my village.
Lynx where I live in the mountains compete with cougars and Bobcats.
Common prey are grouse and rabbits, same as where Joe lives in N Ontario.
More than once, I've been told by observers that approaching a covey of grouse, there has been a Lynx close by with the same idea.
More than a decade ago, I began to hunt birds with #6 nontoxic shot, usually steel. I field dress the birds and the leavings don't last
20 minutes after I move on.
If you had cougars, then you might see some attacks on sheep and deer. We do. . . . . kills buried right in my village.
Can't quite see it happening myself. I'd like to see it happen, but I'm afraid the devotion to sheep farming will overcome any concerns for the environment.
The very fact that the NFU haven't started squealing kind of suggests it hasn't got very far past the idea stage yet. I doubt any cast iron evidence that the wild cat won't prey on sheep will make any difference to those beholden to the subsidy scheme. Unless, of course, there is money on offer to take part in this trial. Then I can see it being very successful.
Sure as heck it isn't going to get the support of the majority of landowners based on environmental considerations.
Oh, they have squealed, missed that.
"We would be concerned about the reintroduction due to its high cost and failure risk,’ he said. ‘We believe budgets are better focused on developing existing biodiversity."
MWAH HA HA HA HA! That is so funny. Or it would be, if it didn't sound so false and at odds with the rest of their actions. If they are so concerned about bio diversity, why don't they kick the farmers into line a bit?
The very fact that the NFU haven't started squealing kind of suggests it hasn't got very far past the idea stage yet. I doubt any cast iron evidence that the wild cat won't prey on sheep will make any difference to those beholden to the subsidy scheme. Unless, of course, there is money on offer to take part in this trial. Then I can see it being very successful.
Sure as heck it isn't going to get the support of the majority of landowners based on environmental considerations.
Oh, they have squealed, missed that.
"We would be concerned about the reintroduction due to its high cost and failure risk,’ he said. ‘We believe budgets are better focused on developing existing biodiversity."
MWAH HA HA HA HA! That is so funny. Or it would be, if it didn't sound so false and at odds with the rest of their actions. If they are so concerned about bio diversity, why don't they kick the farmers into line a bit?
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not sure the sheep thing is a worry in thetford however i suspect any Pet cats roaming and dogs would be targets as would the Nightingales and birds they say that the Deer are eating ..it is a cat after all so birds are on the menu
as for reducing traffic accidents 2 lynx wont have much effect on 78sq miles of deer and may make it worse chasing them into roads
as for reducing traffic accidents 2 lynx wont have much effect on 78sq miles of deer and may make it worse chasing them into roads
"MWAH HA HA HA HA! That is so funny. Or it would be, if it didn't sound so false and at odds with the rest of their actions. If they are so concerned about bio diversity, why don't they kick the farmers into line a bit?" - Quite so!
No point of even thinking about introducing any predator back to the UK, they will be killed as they will upset somebody or other, lets face it it happens to Foxes,birds of prey etc so it will happen to whats introduced.
My reaction to this is two fold
a) AWESOME!
and
b) I wonder how long I'll need to camp out in a hide in Thetford forest with the 400mm lens to get a photo of a lynx.
J
a) AWESOME!
and
b) I wonder how long I'll need to camp out in a hide in Thetford forest with the 400mm lens to get a photo of a lynx.
J
Trappers tell me that the lynx population in my region is "healthy", whatever than means.
I'm out in the mountain forests no more than 30 days per year for the past 12+ years.
I've seen 1 cougar running across the road.
I've seen 4 bobcats, each in a different valley (imagine a long-legged lynx but spotted).
I've actually had the privilege to sit, 10 minutes by the clock, and watch an adult pair of lynx supervise the play-time of their 3 kittens
in a nice-sized grassy clearing. Believe that I might have seen one of those adults before.
Key thing for me was to learn to sit still. Breathe. Move eyes. Nothing else for 15 minutes. Very hard to do.
I'm out in the mountain forests no more than 30 days per year for the past 12+ years.
I've seen 1 cougar running across the road.
I've seen 4 bobcats, each in a different valley (imagine a long-legged lynx but spotted).
I've actually had the privilege to sit, 10 minutes by the clock, and watch an adult pair of lynx supervise the play-time of their 3 kittens
in a nice-sized grassy clearing. Believe that I might have seen one of those adults before.
Key thing for me was to learn to sit still. Breathe. Move eyes. Nothing else for 15 minutes. Very hard to do.
I wish I could be positive about re-introduction because they are gorgeous animals. Unfortunately their mating call sounds identical to a woman screaming for help, which may cause a few issues.
Also unfortunate is that like other predators they are given to exploiting opportunities such as even being driven to hunting rats in the dump:
Once a predator is injured, say by broken glass in a dump. then it goes for really easy prey like Fluffy and Fido.
Also unfortunate is that like other predators they are given to exploiting opportunities such as even being driven to hunting rats in the dump:
Once a predator is injured, say by broken glass in a dump. then it goes for really easy prey like Fluffy and Fido.
Stupid idea! Cumbria is one of the last bastions of the White Clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes) and funding for a conservation scheme was recently DECLINED. The crayfish is a native species critically endangered worldwide... no funding. Lynx, conservation status "least concern" and there's funding for a reintroduction of a locally extinct species? Madness, absolute madness.
and as for the lynx.....pie in the sky dreaming of the highest order. empty scotland and chuck half a dozen pairs in and they might have a chance
Whittler Kev
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
But how many roads and houses are in it? Go for a walk through it and see how often you find something either man made or someone living there
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