Two lynx illegally released in the Highlands have been successfully captured by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS).
The alarm was raised at about 16:20 on Wednesday when they were spotted in the Drumguish area, near to Kingussie.
Experts from the charity worked with police to humanely trap the cats overnight. They are now being cared for in quarantine facilities at Highland Wildlife Park before being transferred to Edinburgh Zoo.
The charity has condemned the illegal release as “highly irresponsible” and said it was likely the lynx would have died in the wild.
It said the pair appear to be in good health and have been named ‘The KillieHuntly Two’.
Police Scotland has urged anyone with information on how the cats came to be in the area to contact its non-emergency line.
David Barclay, manager of the RZSS Saving Wildcats team, said they set live trail cameras near baited traps to capture the animals.
“It was a long night for our specialist keepers who were taking turns to monitor any activity,” he said.
“It was amazing to see the lynx being captured safely and humanely, which makes the lack of sleep more than worth it.
“Biosecurity laws mean the cats need to spend 30 days in suitable quarantine facilities, so we will transfer them from Highland Wildlife Park to Edinburgh Zoo, where we will further assess their health and welfare.”
He said the cats may eventually return to Highland Wildlife Park, which is near where they were trapped, “though it is too early to say for certain”.
Highland Wildlife Park is already home to two grown Northern Lynx, named Switch and Neon. The Northern Lynx is a subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx.
‘Highly irresponsible’
RZSS chief executive David Field said the charity condemned the release of the lynx “in the strongest possible terms”.
He said: “It was a highly irresponsible act and it is very unlikely they would have survived in the wild due to a lack of adequate preparation.
“Their abandonment was reckless to the animals, public the community and nature.”
“We are extremely grateful to all the residents, estates, farmers and conservation partners locally that provided information to us and the police.”
The wild cats were once native to Britain, but were driven to extinction 500 to 1,000 years ago.
But some conservation groups have been campaigning to have the wild cats reintroduced to Scotland.
Lynx to Scotland, a three-charity partnership working to restore lynx to the Scottish Highlands, said it had been made aware of the release.
Peter Cairns, executive director of Scotland: The Big Picture, one of the charities involved, said: “The Lynx to Scotland Project knows nothing of the origin of these two lynx, their history, health status, or who may have released them.
“We understand the frustration of all those who wish to see lynx restored to the Scottish landscape, but an illegal release is not the way to achieve that aim.”
Mr Cairns said the project had never supported or condoned illegal releases.
He added: “This is unwelcome and grossly irresponsible, but comes at the worst possible time, when stakeholders are engaging in good faith with productive discussions about the possibility of a responsibly managed and fully resourced legal reintroduction.”
RSPB Scotland said it was collaborating with the police, relevant governing bodies and partner organisations.
A spokesperson said: “Whilst we support lynx reintroduction as a formerly native species to Scotland, we work within official conservation translocation guidelines and therefore do not support unofficial releases which only set back approved conservation projects.”
