Camilla Swift Camilla Swift

Wild lynx are either dangerous or docile – but we need to decide

It’s interesting that everyone is making such a fuss about this ‘dangerous wild lynx’ that has escaped from a Welsh animal park. Various reports have described it as ‘fearsome’ warning that it ‘could eat pets’ and be ‘aggressive if cornered’. The park itself ­­– Borth Wild Animal Kingdom in Ceredigion – says that: ‘There have never been any recorded attacks of a lynx on a human, but they are a wild animal… and will attack if cornered or trapped. If you spot her, please don’t approach her.’

Animals escape from zoos and wildlife parks all the time. Another lynx, ‘Flaviu’, escaped last summer in similar circumstances from a park in Dartmoor. He was recaptured and returned to the zoo after three weeks on the loose – but not before savaging four lambs. But what has struck me as being a bit strange about this whole furore is that while the public are being warned that this cat might grab their family pets for lunch, in another part of the country it’s becoming increasingly likely that the very same big cats could be reintroduced to the wild.

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