Living with lynx — the potential reintroduction of carnivores such as lynx to these islands

The idea of coming face to face with a wolf or lynx on walks through Irish forests and hills fills me with wonder and anticipation says environmental social scientist Jonny Hanson

The Lynx UK Trust will apply this year to release several Eurasian lynx into the wild.

The potential reintroduction of large carnivores, like wolves, lynx and bears, to these islands has long been mooted by some rewilding advocates. But until fairly recently, it seemed like a far-fetched fantasy for armchair conservationists who had watched too many David Attenborough documentaries.

No longer. In 2017, the Lynx UK Trust made an application for trial reintroductions of small numbers of lynx to Thetford Forest on the Norfolk–Suffolk border and Kielder Forest in Northumbria. It was declined,17 but a consortium of rewilding organisations are considering the idea further north, through the Missing Lynx and the Lynx to Scotland projects.