The ghost of the forest

In Northern Europe they’re known as “The Ghost of the Forest”, in North America “The Keeper of Secrets”.

Both names earned through their ability to stalk prey silently, covering many hundreds of miles as they patrol their home territories. 

Scenting trees and rocks to ward off potential rivals, this little corner of wilderness is taken!

Their exceptional hearing, cryptic colouring and the ability to jump vertically up to four metres makes them accomplished ambush hunters.

Walking through the forests of Northern Europe you could be a metre away from a lurking predator without ever knowing they were there!

Despite this, they’re not a risk to hikers or ramblers.

The Eurasian Lynx is classified as a small cat, adults are around the size of a domestic labrador.

There are six distinct subspecies of Eurasian Lynx (Northern, Turkestan, Caucasian, Siberian, Balkan and Carpathian).

The sub-species formed through geographical isolation of populations with each sub-species adapting their body shape and size to suit the environment and prey in their area.

Their favourite prey is Rabbit, but they will also hunt Roe Fallow Deer, picking off the weakest animals.

Lynx can be found in forests all the way from Norway to Eastern Siberia.

Across their range they are regarded as being “Least Concern” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), however, when studied locally, especially in Europe it’s a far different story.

In the UK they are extinct in the wild, in France, Spain and Italy they are Critically Endangered.

Two thousand years ago they would have roamed the heavily wooded slopes of Dartmoor and their range extended to very tip of Scotland where, around one thousand three hundred years ago, the last of the UK’s Lynx was finally hunted and killed, or so we believe.

Humans slowly and steadily destroyed our native forests, taking the trees for firewood, houses and even for building ships. 

We cleared the land for farming and for development. 

As more and more forest was lost domesticated livestock was put into the environment. The large predators such as Lynx and Wolves were hunted to extinction.

But why should we care?

Isn’t the UK better off for humans, livestock and wildlife without large predators roaming the land?

With no natural predators, prey species like deer flourished.

Humans again made the situation worse by introducing invasive species such as Fallow Deer (introduced by The Normans around 1,000 years ago) that proliferated, and numbers of these large herbivores are now largely uncontrolled.

Without control, deer are slowly and relentlessly damaging what forests we have left.

They over graze the land, removing tree samplings before they have a chance to grow meaning forests cannot regenerate.

As a result, many of the remnants of ancient forest still surviving are slowly dying.

We are left with veteran trees with no new recruitment.

This is the very reason that many conservation groups have proposed re-introducing Lynx in the UK. 

Can you ever envisage a day when we see Lynx back in Dartmoor?

Dartmoor Zoo has two Lynx at the moment, there may well be more to come.

Travelling from Karlsruhe Zoo in Germany, Emily is Flaviu’s new love interest. 

She arrived at Dartmoor Zoo on Tuesday, February 27.

At 7 years old, Emily has been selected as a compatible match for Flaviu within the European Breeding Programme.

Let’s hope there are little Lynx on the way.