Lynx reintroduction 'needs public support'

Wild lynx have been extinct in the UK for 1,300 years

Lynx reintroduction could not be done without public support, the National Trust has said.

The charity is restoring parts of Northumberland that could support a lynx population, but said bringing the species back would need legal consent and "wide support from across society".

A partnership between Northumberland Wildlife Trust (NWT), The Lifescape Project and the Wildlife Trusts is consulting on the plans.

The proposals include reintroducing the lynx in north-west Northumberland, the edge of Cumbria and the bordering area of southern Scotland.

The National Trust previously reintroduced another long-lost species to Northumberland, when a family of beavers were released at Wallington in 2023.

The trust hope the beavers will help to renew and restore nature, and create a “wildlife-rich wetland”.

However, reintroducing a predatory species is far more complicated due to potential impacts on livestock, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A spokeswoman for the National Trust said: “We know that in a natural environment, lynx would have played an important ecological role and would have helped control populations of deer and other herbivores.

“While we are restoring large, nature-rich landscapes that lynx could probably survive in, reintroducing them is not something we could do without a lengthy feasibility and consultation process, legal consent, and wide support from across society.”

An exhibition has also been touring Northumberland, discussing the possibility of bringing the apex predator back to Britain.