There are ‘many good reasons’ to bring the lynx back

Controversial wildlife expert Chris Packham has called for the reintroduction of big cats to Scotland.

The Winterwatch presenter wants to see lynx roam the Highlands once again the species died out in Scotland around 800 years ago.

Proposals have met stiff opposition from farmers and gamekeepers, who worry the predators will kill livestock. But Chris reckons they should “butt out”.

He said: “They should leave it to conservationists. We don’t tell them how to farm or rear game and they shouldn’t tell us what’s best for the ecosystem.

“Lynx were part of our natural heritage for thousands of years and there are many good reasons to bring them back.

“There are huge numbers of deer far too many. They devastate forests by eating saplings. There are 350,000 roe deer alone in Scotland a natural prey species for lynx.

“Small numbers of sheep or lambs may be taken but any reintroduction scheme would see farmers compensated. They shouldn’t be concerned. Lynx have been reintroduced in many parts of Europe where programmes have been a great success.”

Sea eagles have already been reintroduced to the west coast and there is a trial scheme to reinstate beavers in Knoydart.

Chris, who has previously called for giant pandas to be allowed to die out, said: “It’s all about restoring a bit of balance to our natural environment.”

Chris and the Winterwatch team are at Mar Lodge for this year’s show, which screens on BBC 2 for four nights from tomorrow.

He said: “In winter, Scotland’s my favourite place in the UK. I’m from Hampshire winter basically means mud from December to March. It gets a bit boring after a while.

“But it’s so different in the Cairngorms. It’s such a wild, mountainous area with fantastic ancient pine forests teeming with wildlife much of it rare, such as pine martens, wildcats and golden eagles. What’s not to like? It’s a dreamland for someone like me.

“It’s such a hard time for wildlife, but an exciting time too. It’s fascinating to see how creatures adapt to the harsh conditions. You have ptarmigan scratching holes 4,000 ft up in the Cairngorms and surviving in whiteout conditions that’s a tough bird! This will be my first time at Mar Lodge and I can’t wait.”

Sprawling over 72,500 acres of our wildest, most mountainous land, Mar Lodge Estate is the ideal location for Winterwatch. It’s home to 15 Munros, including four of the five highest mountains in the UK. It also has huge tracts of ancient Caledonian woodland where some of the rarest animals in Britain can be found.

Winterwatch producer James Smith said: “If you want to experience winter in the UK, this is the place to be.

“Our lowest temperature, -27.2 C, was logged just a few miles away at Braemar. This year is a little bit warmer, but the unpredictability of a live show like Winterwatch is part of what makes it so special.”

Around 90 people help make the show, and they start work months in advance.

James said: “Basically, while Autumnwatch is on screens in October, we’ll be scouting for locations. Then in November and December things get frantic.”

James added: “We’ve more or less taken over Mar Lodge. Our office is the old music room and we’ve turned the billiards room into an editing suite. We have 10 remote cameras recording 24 hours a day. It’s a huge operation.

“We screen four one-hour shows on consecutive nights on BBC2 and we have our sister show, Unsprung, as well as round the clock live feeds on our website and via the red button.”