In Finland we have over 2000 lynxes and allthough we don't have sheep farmers to the same extent as in scotland, there are known no attacks on farmed animals by lynxes. Majority of attacks on farmed animals by big predators are caused by wolves, to lesser extent by bears.
I think Lynx would be more interested in taking deer than a sheep, scotland is full of deer so plenty of food for the Lynx.I think the loss of any sheep would be minimal, and any loss could be covered by the Government.I think the positives outweigh the negatives to bringing back the Lynx.
Would be amazing if the lynx made a return to Scotland but trying to have people from all walks of life on side is never going to be easy & understandably so,let's hope there's a compromise that suits everyone 🤞🏻
I think his concerns were more that the Cairngorms were not a suitable place due to large tourist footfall and also he referenced the wildcat which is endangered in Scotland and thought should probably focus more on that.
@@poldy777555 Maybe but... The large tourist footfall would just scare the lynx off to the quietest areas... Also reintroducing lynx would have no negative effects on efforts to protect wildcats. I couldn't tell whether his concerns were genuine or if he was being deliberately disingenuous.
@@mrtod13 I think the stalker is simply being over cautious and protective of his industry, there is an overpopulation of deer in Scotland, lynx would not impact on the estates profits. Shooters kill deer on open moorland, lynx are forest creatures so I see no conflict of interests here.
He is concerned that the Lynx will be harmful to the numbers of other red list species like Scottish Wild Cat, Capercaillie, ground nesting birds etc and I share his concerns. If we want a cat we should concentrate on the Wildcat. The reason he said an area dense in Roe Deer I assume is to stop them killing red listed species and domestic livestock.
I understand the concern of sheep farmers and I do feel that the short clip rather glossed over them. How exactly could the killing of farmed animals be prevented? More realistically, how would losses from lynx be compensated, bearing in mind that the loss is not just financial but emotional?
The Lynx is an ambush hunter, it ambushes deer in wooded areas. As far as I understand sheep should not be grazed in wooded areas as they cause a lot of damage to small plants and saplings. So if the sheep are kept on open grazing land, interactions should be minimal. In Europe, if a Lynx kills a farm animal, the government compensates then. Also the idea of emotional loss is a tough sell, considering these animals are young (not long to gain an attachment) and raised to be sold for meat. The fact is that farming has destroyed so much of our natural habitat and animal diversity. We can't let farming be the reason we don't try rewilding. BTW I am a meat eater, eating farm produce. I would happily eat less meat to have apex predators back in Scotland.
@@garethbranigan9277 by dismissing the emotional aspect you're showing your ignorance of how farming works. These flocks are bred over generations to fit the land they live on, the destruction of any of that just so some folk living in a city hundreds of miles away can feel smug is obviously going to have an emotional impact. As for compensation, that is always held up as problem solved. Compersation paid by who? The same is claimed around sea eagles, yet anytime someone says a lamb was taken by one they're told that they must be mistaken! Everyone insists that you'll never see a lynx, so how do you prove that a lynx took the lamb?
@@garethbranigan9277yes the lynx is a woodland creature that mainly predates on roe deer, when that food supply is reduced the lynx will simply move onto the nearby lambs on the edge of the wood, the lynx won’t walk past sheep to tackle a red deer nearly 10 times it’s own body weight, the release of the lynx must be done cautiously and gradually
Farmers are terrorized that, upon reintroduction, the taleban animalists would bar them from protecting their livestocks. In Italy a bear, named JJ4, mauled a person and after a while killed another. There was a ferocius fight to even CAPTURE the bear.
yeah I tell you even if lynx are around they will not show themselves, they want nothing to do with humans. I been to mountains with bears, wolves and lynx and never had any interaction with those. only heard some from locals sometimes or from shepherds about wolves, about lynx though? never
Norway has 15,000-20,000 sheep losses each year, Lynx was about 20%, so still thousands of sheep losses from Lynx every year and they have a lot more wilderness than the UK
An excellent video. Lynx and other top predators will eventually be introduced. That will happen. But all the concerns will need to be addressed first. The conversation has to as open as in the video and more natural reforestation needs to happen. I can also see AI having a role in addressing issues in the future by controlling how the landscape is used and supporting the concerns of all stakeholders.
Excellent video, with a wide range of opinions very well put. As a land manager in Scotland, as well as a wildlife conservationist, I can see both sides of the argument. I’ve been to the Harz Mountains in Germany, where they reintroduced Lynx and it’s a success, but it’s a very wooded area. I would agree that the Lynx should return, but only when there is widespread recovery of the Caledonian pine forest. There would also need to be protection measures for sheep and a necessary compensation scheme.
Lynx is harmless animal. No threat to people. No threat to sheep in fields.🇫🇮 It is a forest dweller ambushing roe deer, hares, rabbits, mouse and rats. Only in Norway there is some sheep predation since they let sheep freely without guard graze in forest areas. Norwegian government though compensates these losses to farmers.
We have no forests, we have lots of dense plantations with no life under the canopy. A lynx wouldnt survive in a plantation, it would be pushed out on the periphery where it will find sheep. We could rewild our forests, but we also need timber and would only end up importing more which defeats the purpose of environmentalism.
@@quillo2747 There seems to be a trend shift in that regard going on bringing back Caledonian forests. There are some protected forests to begin with. This is long time period project. Spruce forest monocultures can be easily converted to nuture nature as well when you go from clear cut method to continous growth method. Science shows that continous growth gives more bang for the money so to say, its more profitable but requires a bit more effort, different way of forestry. The big plus is it also gives nature chance. In continous growth you cherry pick trees for felling. So there is always forest covery, preventing erosion and floods and there is a continous flow of money to the owner. Also there is trees of all ages, like in natural forests. The trees multiply naturally without need of planting. You can then also add native trees amongst spruce. It can be law mandained to add certain amount of native trees into monocultures. This is not a rocket science. There are ways if there is a will. More tree species give more adaptability and protection from tree diseases and insects which will increase in future. In continouous growth forests you have birds to eat insects harming tree growth. Spruce cannot tolerate strong winds, warming climate and increasing amount of droughts, dry weather, more intense raining, floods. These issues will anyway change commercial forestry.
Why not have theLynx in on a trial basis, like they did with Beavers ? They could all be fitted with radio collars so thaqt they could be closely monitored.
The British are so scared of these large predators. What a sad state of affairs, the fear, nervousness, anxiety of a once great nation is sad to see. Lynx aren’t being introduced as some pet hobby, it will literally save Scotlands wildlands which are in chronic decline.
I know this is terribly unsympathetic but for the farmer who stated that 'we struggle enough as it is to keep the lambs alive that we produce every year', then maybe sheep farming is not a very sustainable enterprise for you.
"People would get used of it" as a Swede I can tell you will be lucky to ever notice one
In Canada, only seen one in my entire life caught in me uncles trap in Newfoundland. I've been in the woods many times too.
In Finland we have over 2000 lynxes and allthough we don't have sheep farmers to the same extent as in scotland, there are known no attacks on farmed animals by lynxes. Majority of attacks on farmed animals by big predators are caused by wolves, to lesser extent by bears.
I think Lynx would be more interested in taking deer than a sheep, scotland is full of deer so plenty of food for the Lynx.I think the loss of any sheep would be minimal, and any loss could be covered by the Government.I think the positives outweigh the negatives to bringing back the Lynx.
Would be amazing if the lynx made a return to Scotland but trying to have people from all walks of life on side is never going to be easy & understandably so,let's hope there's a compromise that suits everyone 🤞🏻
Livestock guardian dogs would easily keep lynx away from sheep herds
Don't really understand the deer stalker's concern. Does he feel that so many deer will be taken that there will be a shortage of deer to hunt?
I think his concerns were more that the Cairngorms were not a suitable place due to large tourist footfall and also he referenced the wildcat which is endangered in Scotland and thought should probably focus more on that.
@@poldy777555 Maybe but... The large tourist footfall would just scare the lynx off to the quietest areas... Also reintroducing lynx would have no negative effects on efforts to protect wildcats. I couldn't tell whether his concerns were genuine or if he was being deliberately disingenuous.
@@mrtod13 I think the stalker is simply being over cautious and protective of his industry, there is an overpopulation of deer in Scotland, lynx would not impact on the estates profits.
Shooters kill deer on open moorland, lynx are forest creatures so I see no conflict of interests here.
@@tonypaddleronly red deer are on the open hill, lynx would decimate the roe population and move onto sheep before tackling woodland reds
He is concerned that the Lynx will be harmful to the numbers of other red list species like Scottish Wild Cat, Capercaillie, ground nesting birds etc and I share his concerns. If we want a cat we should concentrate on the Wildcat. The reason he said an area dense in Roe Deer I assume is to stop them killing red listed species and domestic livestock.
The takeway for me, apart from the lynx's general welfare, is that if an animal is in any way a hinderance to our way of living then its a problem.
I understand the concern of sheep farmers and I do feel that the short clip rather glossed over them. How exactly could the killing of farmed animals be prevented? More realistically, how would losses from lynx be compensated, bearing in mind that the loss is not just financial but emotional?
The Lynx is an ambush hunter, it ambushes deer in wooded areas. As far as I understand sheep should not be grazed in wooded areas as they cause a lot of damage to small plants and saplings. So if the sheep are kept on open grazing land, interactions should be minimal.
In Europe, if a Lynx kills a farm animal, the government compensates then. Also the idea of emotional loss is a tough sell, considering these animals are young (not long to gain an attachment) and raised to be sold for meat.
The fact is that farming has destroyed so much of our natural habitat and animal diversity. We can't let farming be the reason we don't try rewilding.
BTW I am a meat eater, eating farm produce. I would happily eat less meat to have apex predators back in Scotland.
@@garethbranigan9277 very well put Gareth!
@@garethbranigan9277 by dismissing the emotional aspect you're showing your ignorance of how farming works. These flocks are bred over generations to fit the land they live on, the destruction of any of that just so some folk living in a city hundreds of miles away can feel smug is obviously going to have an emotional impact.
As for compensation, that is always held up as problem solved. Compersation paid by who? The same is claimed around sea eagles, yet anytime someone says a lamb was taken by one they're told that they must be mistaken! Everyone insists that you'll never see a lynx, so how do you prove that a lynx took the lamb?
@@garethbranigan9277yes the lynx is a woodland creature that mainly predates on roe deer, when that food supply is reduced the lynx will simply move onto the nearby lambs on the edge of the wood, the lynx won’t walk past sheep to tackle a red deer nearly 10 times it’s own body weight, the release of the lynx must be done cautiously and gradually
Farmers are terrorized that, upon reintroduction, the taleban animalists would bar them from protecting their livestocks.
In Italy a bear, named JJ4, mauled a person and after a while killed another. There was a ferocius fight to even CAPTURE the bear.
yeah I tell you even if lynx are around they will not show themselves, they want nothing to do with humans. I been to mountains with bears, wolves and lynx and never had any interaction with those. only heard some from locals sometimes or from shepherds about wolves, about lynx though? never
Norway has 15,000-20,000 sheep losses each year, Lynx was about 20%, so still thousands of sheep losses from Lynx every year and they have a lot more wilderness than the UK
An excellent video. Lynx and other top predators will eventually be introduced. That will happen. But all the concerns will need to be addressed first. The conversation has to as open as in the video and more natural reforestation needs to happen. I can also see AI having a role in addressing issues in the future by controlling how the landscape is used and supporting the concerns of all stakeholders.
Excellent video, with a wide range of opinions very well put. As a land manager in Scotland, as well as a wildlife conservationist, I can see both sides of the argument. I’ve been to the Harz Mountains in Germany, where they reintroduced Lynx and it’s a success, but it’s a very wooded area. I would agree that the Lynx should return, but only when there is widespread recovery of the Caledonian pine forest. There would also need to be protection measures for sheep and a necessary compensation scheme.
Lynx is harmless animal. No threat to people. No threat to sheep in fields.🇫🇮 It is a forest dweller ambushing roe deer, hares, rabbits, mouse and rats.
Only in Norway there is some sheep predation since they let sheep freely without guard graze in forest areas. Norwegian government though compensates these losses to farmers.
We have no forests, we have lots of dense plantations with no life under the canopy. A lynx wouldnt survive in a plantation, it would be pushed out on the periphery where it will find sheep. We could rewild our forests, but we also need timber and would only end up importing more which defeats the purpose of environmentalism.
@@quillo2747 There seems to be a trend shift in that regard going on bringing back Caledonian forests. There are some protected forests to begin with. This is long time period project.
Spruce forest monocultures can be easily converted to nuture nature as well when you go from clear cut method to continous growth method. Science shows that continous growth gives more bang for the money so to say, its more profitable but requires a bit more effort, different way of forestry. The big plus is it also gives nature chance.
In continous growth you cherry pick trees for felling. So there is always forest covery, preventing erosion and floods and there is a continous flow of money to the owner. Also there is trees of all ages, like in natural forests. The trees multiply naturally without need of planting.
You can then also add native trees amongst spruce. It can be law mandained to add certain amount of native trees into monocultures. This is not a rocket science. There are ways if there is a will.
More tree species give more adaptability and protection from tree diseases and insects which will increase in future. In continouous growth forests you have birds to eat insects harming tree growth. Spruce cannot tolerate strong winds, warming climate and increasing amount of droughts, dry weather, more intense raining, floods. These issues will anyway change commercial forestry.
They are very likely already there. Lynx are so elusive you'd hardly see them.
Can lynx live in devon??
Not a chance, nowhere near enough habitat for them there.
Why not have theLynx in on a trial basis, like they did with Beavers ? They could all be fitted with radio collars so thaqt they could be closely monitored.
The problem with that is if it didn’t work then the woke side wouldn’t accept the animals being removed
The British are so scared of these large predators. What a sad state of affairs, the fear, nervousness, anxiety of a once great nation is sad to see. Lynx aren’t being introduced as some pet hobby, it will literally save Scotlands wildlands which are in chronic decline.
I know this is terribly unsympathetic but for the farmer who stated that 'we struggle enough as it is to keep the lambs alive that we produce every year', then maybe sheep farming is not a very sustainable enterprise for you.
Yes
They won’t kill humans, just their pets.
Subject reintroduction to an irrevocable right of farmers to defend their livestocks.
There are mountain lions in Los Angeles. Scotland would survive the lynx.
If done properly a 100% it is
We don't need to eat sheep. I don't. Give the land back to nature and the lynx.