Lynx reports in Scotland have been happening for decades, claims host of Big Cat podcast
News of the illegal release of lynx in the Scottish Highlands hit headlines around the world after four of the big cat species were spotted on the loose.
Yet for some keen observers of the animals, the sightings have not come as a surprise.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdQuestions still remain around the origin of these two pairs of lynx, who were found a few miles from Highland Wildlife Park, Kingussie, in the Cairngorms. The story has shaken up rural Scotland, with farmers raising concern about their livestock, experts concerned for the cats’ welfare, and rewilding chiefs fearing the reckless move will set them back in their efforts to legally reintroduce lynx to Scotland.


The lynx have all since been recaptured, although one died hours after being recovered on what weather experts said was the coldest January night in the area in 15 years.
While questioning the motive behind the illegal release of the four bobtails, Rick Minter, host of the podcast: The Big Cat Conversation, said reports of big cats in the UK, including the lynx, have been ongoing for decades.


Speaking to The Scotsman, he said: “Truly wild cats of any species are furtive and stealthy. For example the Scottish wildcat is largely invisible and hard to monitor for most of its secret life.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“If you wanted to release lynx unnoticed, to melt away in the landscape and go feral, perhaps you’d do it well away from the doorstep of the Highland Wildlife park.
“So are these incidents of freshly released animals more of a stunt to cause a commotion and highlight the case for returning lynx?
“The irony is that large cats including lynx have been reported by people across Britain, and Scotland, for several decades.
“The data is consistent - by year or by region the descriptions resemble black leopards (80 per cent or so) tan coloured pumas (around 15 per cent) and lynx-like cats for 5 per cent.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAmong theories that the cats were dumped by someone who could no longer look after them, the podcast host said this was a possibility given the location and there being “a good chance of them being trapped before going feral and taken to a new home at Highland Wildlife Park.”
Mr Minter’s podcast involves inviting on guests who claim they have seen big cats in Britain and to share what they saw, sensed and how they felt about the experience.
In 1980s, a female puma, who was given the name Felicity, was caught in the Kingussie area and taken into the care of the Highland Wildlife Park.
“Many of the witness reports are so close-up that they cannot be mistakes, and people’s accompanying dogs react as well, so it’s not just people experiencing these cats,” Mr Minter said.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“On the Big Cat Conversations podcast we hear plenty of cases from all parts of Scotland, from the edge of Edinburgh, to Skye and Caithness. We hear the emotions and people’s conviction, as they re-live their encounters.”
Mr Minter went on to describe some of the encounters his guests had in Scotland: “A walker retreated with her dog in Aberdeenshire when she gazed into the eyes of a lynx, an investigator in Caithness heard a guttural leopard warning cough right by him in the scrub, as he followed up a tourist’s report of a black panther, different people separately reported a black panther quietly investigating gardens on the edge of Edinburgh, and a spear fisherman on Skye watched a black leopard sneak close to his evening cook-up.”
The podcast host added: “It is only by gaining trust that you learn of people’s big cat secrets.”


Mr Minter pointed to Scotland’s group of citizen scientists, Scottish Big Cat Research (SBCR), who monitor big cat sightings and raise awareness.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“According to them we already coexist with lynx and similar cats,” he said.
In a Facebook post, group admin Paul Macdonald said the idea that the lynx, an apex predator, was extinct in Scotland was "an unsupported academic assumption".
He said there was "a trail of historical source material evidence" from the 16th century to modern day "clearly describing lynx activity in Scotland.”
SBCR claims 1,600 recorded sightings of big cats in the last 75 years are just the tip of the iceberg.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdMr Macdonald said there had been a "distinctive uptrend in sightings in recent years with 47 per cent of all recorded lynx sightings having been experienced in the past 10 years" and blamed the Dangerous Wild Animals Act of 1976 for many owners releasing their animals into the wild.
Conservationists and wildlife groups seem to be in agreement that the four feline friends were clearly domesticated and would not have survived being out in the wild.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.