Lynx could be first UK zoo-born cat freed into the wild

A lynx born in a zoo in Cornwall could become the first UK zoo-born cat to be successfully released into the wild.

Animals born and raised in zoos are rarely considered for release because they either don’t have the survival skills or have become too used to human interaction.

But a shortage of female lynxes in the European breeding programme led to the unusual request being made for the cat from Newquay Zoo.

It has been moved to Germany’s Black Forest where it will spend the next few months being monitored in an enclosure to see if it’s up to the challenge.

This week the BBC watched on as, with the help of some judicious prodding with a broom, the Newquay lynx was loaded onto a truck headed for southwestern Germany.

Two days later we were in Germany as it was cajoled into a 1,200-sq-metre enclosure. John Meek from Newquay Zoo was also on hand to see the lynx gingerly stroll out into its new home.

“I’m a big boy but I had a few tears in my eyes,” he said. ” Nowadays, zoos are not here to keep animals in cages. They’re there for conservation. And this is it, conservation in action.”

Thousands of lynx already roam wild in European forests but efforts are being made to introduce new cats to increase their genetic diversity particularly in central Europe.

Though not officially classed as a “big cat” Eurasian lynx can weigh up to 30 kilos and hunt deer for food.

Once native to the UK they were driven to extinction hundreds of years ago and with British deer populations at record levels there have been calls for their re-introduction.

“Basically I’m Tinder for the zoo-born lynx,” says Dina Gebhardt from Bern Animal Park with a smile when I speak to her on Zoom.

It was her who sent out the SOS for the Newquay lynx.

The lynx-breeding coordinator for the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), she matches females and males from across the continent as well as finding new homes for their offspring.

“Our nature is very fragmented, due to railways and streets and cities. And this means we created a lot of barriers for the lynx, which leads to inbreeding,” Dina says.

To combat that Dina finds captive young lynx that can be introduced into the wild to increase numbers and improve the genetic mix. Usually Dina’s lynxes have been raised from birth with the minimum of human contact, specifically with release in mind.

But last year, much to Dina’s frustration, there was a particularly high number of male lynxes born. And a successful rewilding programme needs females much more than males.

So Dina reached out to Newquay Zoo to ask them if their one year old female might be available.

“Of course we said yes straight away, that’s something that we’d love to do,” says John Meek, the curator of plants and animals at Newquay Zoo.

Over the next few months the lynx will be monitored to see if it has the necessary skills to survive in the wild. Catching and killing prey is not expected to be a problem.

“If you know your cats, you know that even a cat that has lived in a room its whole life, once it gets out is able to kill a bird or a mouse,” Eva Klebelsberg who runs the lynx reintroduction programme for Baden-Württemberg told us.

We’re standing over the carcass of a Roe Deer in the Black Forest just outside Karlsruhe. There is a small population of lynxes already living in the forest and this is one of their kills.

There are puncture marks on its throat – a sure sign.

“Our ecosystems in Europe are missing large predators,” Eva says, explaining that the lynx helps control populations of deer as well as ensuring that they keep moving and don’t strip forested areas.

The key question in relation to the Newquay lynx is likely to be its relationship with humans. Having spent its entire life looking through bars at visitors and being fed by keepers it will need to show that it is not going to seek out more human interaction.

“Central Europe is very crowded and we don’t have many places where there is enough space for larger animals.” says Dr Marco Roller from Karlsruhe zoo, who manages the enclosure.

“We don’t want human animal conflicts. So for us it’s important we don’t have aggressive animals or curious animals which may walk through cities or close to human settlements.”

The final decision on the Newquay lynx’s fate will be taken later in the summer after several months of close monitoring.