Wildlife bodies want to reintroduce a predator cat into the UK despite fears of potential attacks. Tony Juniper, chair of the government’s wildlife regulator Natural England, said he would be “absolutely delighted” if they returned to the UK, while Lynx UK Trust has proposed a trial to reintroduce them. 

Even though the predators pose no risk to humans, there are fears they may attack livestock because they prey on deer and rabbits. The trust had proposed introducing lynx rescued from culls in Sweden into the Kielder forest in Northumberland. However, Natural England blocked this in the past due to regulations by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which considers it illegal under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act. 

Campaigners suggested recompensating farmers for any losses, and pointed out that there were no farms inside the Kielder forest. 

Lynx UK Trust believes that tweaking the law would allow the animal to be released safely, but chief executive Paul O’Donoghue said that Steve Reed, the environment secretary, had not responded to requests for a meeting. He said the trust would consider a legal challenge if the government did not review this.

Defra said it was “absolutely committed to restoring and protecting nature” and was working with Natural England on species reintroductions.

While Natural England’s chair said he is “enthusiastic” about plans to reintroduce the wild animals, he previously acknowledged the public were still “quite polarised” over rewilding lynx to The Guardian.

Juniper said: “It’s not so much about the ecology of whether these animals would have enough to eat or whether they’d have a big enough home range; it’s much more about the social conditions that they arrive in and the attitudes of the communities that would live with them.”

The predatory cat used to live in Britain, but it was hunted to extinction in medieval times.

By the 1950s, only 700 lynx were left in Europe, but due to reintroductions in areas in Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland, there are now about 18,000 across the continent.