Nature is like a puzzle. Tere are lots of different pieces, with such a wide variety of shapes, sizes and colours that it’s hard to imagine them all merging. But somehow, they do. Tey fit together seamlessly, creating something strong and spectacular: a healthy ecosystem. A community of animals, plants and other organisms interacting with each other and the landscape in which they live. Nature in balance. Here in the UK, we have lots of wonderful
wildlife. But some of the important pieces of that puzzle are missing. One of those pieces has a graceful, feline shape, with tuſted ears and a short bob tail. It would once have sat within a mosaic of trees, never far from its preferred prey, roe deer. A missing link. Te missing lynx.
Lost lynx Lynx are woodland cats. Tey’re about the height of a Labrador, but lighter, with grey to golden- brown fur that can be plain or speckled with black markings. Tey are elusive, live in low densities and like to avoid people. Tey are most at home amongst the trees, with lots of understory plants to hide them as they hunt. Across most of Europe, their main prey is roe deer, though they also feed on other hoofed mammals like reindeer and chamois. Occasionally, they might eat smaller prey, such as rodents, hares, foxes and birds. Tey are most active between dusk and dawn. For thousands of years, lynx were a critical part of our ecosystems. As top carnivores, they would have helped regulate other animals like deer and foxes. Te remains of their prey would have fed birds, beetles and other scavengers. Lynx bones have been found in 32 cave sites
across England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Tese bones tell us lynx were still here when the Romans arrived and when Hadrian’s wall was built. Te most recent lynx bone found so far belonged to an animal that died around 1,500 years ago. But it’s unlikely this was the last lynx. Tey’re still mentioned in poems and other cultural evidence exists beyond that century, too. It’s most likely that we lost our lynx during the medieval period, around 800-1,000 years ago. Tey finally disappeared due to hunting and habitat loss. Lynx faced similar issues across the rest of
Europe. By the 20th century, they had been lost from many of the countries they once called home. However, in Europe, lynx are now making a comeback. Lynx have been reintroduced in countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Slovenia and Italy. Could they one day return to Britain, too?
LYNX AND KITTENS © BERNDT FISCHER
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