Police warning after two lynx illegally released in Highlands

Police are investigating the illegal release of two lynx in the Highlands and have urged the public not to approach the wild cats.

The alarm was raised at about 16:20 when they were spotted in the Drumguish area, near to Kingussie.

Specially trained staff from the Highland Wildlife Park are assisting officers to trace the animals.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority said they were shy and a “low risk” to humans but added they should not be approached.

A spokesperson said: “We condemn the illegal release of wild animals in the strongest possible terms and we are also concerned for the welfare of the lynx that have been released.”

The authority also said people should not attend the area and appealed to anyone with information about the lynx to contact police.

The wild cats were once native to Britain, but were driven to extinction 500 to 1,000 years ago.

But some conservation groups have been campaigning to have the wild cats reintroduced to Scotland.

Lynx to Scotland, a three-charity partnership working to restore lynx to the Scottish Highlands, said it had been made aware of the release.

Peter Cairns, executive director of Scotland: The Big Picture, one of the charities involved, said: “The Lynx to Scotland Project knows nothing of the origin of these two lynx, their history, health status, or who may have released them.

“We understand the frustration of all those who wish to see lynx restored to the Scottish landscape, but an illegal release is not the way to achieve that aim.”

Mr Cairns said the project had never supported or condoned illegal releases.

He added: “This is unwelcome and grossly irresponsible, but comes at the worst possible time, when stakeholders are engaging in good faith with productive discussions about the possibility of a responsibly managed and fully resourced legal reintroduction.”

There is huge anger among campaigners who have long been arguing for these apex predators to be returned to the wild in Scotland.

It is a highly controversial plan and has required some careful manoeuvring by conservationists to try and make it a reality.

They are convinced these two animals have been illegally released by someone who has grown tired of that process and taken the law into their own hands.

It has happened before with another species.

Beavers were released illegally in Perthshire while consultations over their formal reintroduction were still ongoing and the population has since exploded.

Farmers hate the idea of wild lynx because of concerns they might target their lambs for food.

If that happens in the coming days, campaigners fear it would end their ambitions of a reintroduction for decades.

It is possible the two cats could disappear into the wild, mate and produce the first genuinely wild lynx in more than five centuries.

But experts say the fact these secretive animals have been spotted several times suggests they might actually be too domesticated to survive in the wild.