Postmortem will be carried out on wild cat, one of four humanely captured in Cairngorms, to find cause of death
One of the four illegally released lynx captured in the Scottish Highlands has died overnight.
The lynx was humanely captured near Kingussie in the Cairngorms national park on Friday but the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) said it had later died.
Dr Helen Senn, the head of conservation at the RZSS, said: “After extensive efforts to capture these animals safely and humanely, we were very sad to discover that one of them has died overnight.
“We do not yet know the circumstances behind its death but will be carrying out a postmortem to try to establish what happened.
“Whatever the case, this unfortunate development just serves to further demonstrate the folly of abandoning these amazing animals in the wild, with no preparation or real concern for their welfare.
“We can only imagine the stress that all four of the recovered lynx must have experienced after being thrust into an entirely new and extremely harsh environment to fend for themselves.
“Our team of expert keepers and veterinarians will now ensure that they get the best possible care moving forward.”
The surviving lynx of the pair has been taken to Edinburgh zoo to join the others for a period of quarantine.
The RZSS said the captured lynx were tame and used to humans.
Senn added: “I’d like to say a massive thank you to the local community who have been amazing throughout this entire episode, rallying around at short notice and supporting the team through some extremely challenging conditions.”
Steve Micklewright, the chief executive of Trees for Life which is a member of the Lynx to Scotland partnership, said: “We await the postmortem results, but the tragic death of one of these beautiful, charismatic animals shows why illegal animal abandonment like this is so irresponsible and wrong. We hope the other three lynx are safe and well following the superb efforts of experts in trapping them so rapidly.
“This sorry saga is a reminder why an official future reintroduction of lynx to the Highlands must be properly managed with habitat assessments, public consultation, and a government licence. This would be a huge win for Scotland in the fight against extinction, and allow it to join other European nations in benefiting from the return of these stunning, shy animals which are a vital missing part of our ecosystems.”
Police Scotland said inquiries into how the lynx ended up in the area were continuing, and officers and wildlife experts would continue to examine the area where the animals were found.
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