SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
It was a frigid January day in the snowy Scottish highlands when two animals were spotted that hadn't roamed that landscape since medieval times - Eurasian lynx. How they got there remains an official mystery, but suspicion has fallen on rogue rewilders, vigilantes who are trying to introduce lost species without government approval. Their appearance has set off an uproar and may set back legal efforts to try to bring back this apex predator. Peter Cairns is head of rewilding at the nonprofit group Scotland: The Big Picture. They're part of that legal effort. Mr. Cairns, thanks so much for being with us.
PETER CAIRNS: Good morning. You're welcome.
SIMON: Where are the lynx? Do we know?
CAIRNS: Well, currently, the lynx - there were actually four that were released in the end. One of them, unfortunately, died fairly quickly after capture. The other three are still in captivity at Edinburgh Zoo.
SIMON: You have been working to legally reintroduce the lynx. Why?
CAIRNS: I think, fundamentally, this is about returning a species that belongs here. They're a native species. They only became extinct because of human actions. Ecologically speaking, we know that these animals are important. We know that apex predators play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. If you want to draw an analogy with an airplane, just for the sake of argument, you know, you can fly an airplane with a few rivets missing. If so many rivets or components are missing, then the whole machinery, of course, comes to a halt. And that's effectively what we've done with nature in the U.K. We've slowly, over centuries, dismantled it, removed those rivets, those components, and we now have a faltering, depleted system. So lynx are only one species. They're only one component. They're only one rivet, if you like. And in order to achieve optimal ecosystem functionality, they should be restored, along with all of the other components in the machinery.
SIMON: Of course, after their appearance in January, the Scottish first minister, John Swinney, said that his government is not going to be reintroducing the lynx or any other large carnivores. What about concerns that some people have that reintroducing a wild species could hurt livestock or be dangerous for people, or upset the ecological balance that is there now?
CAIRNS: Yeah, I mean, if I can maybe just pick apart those three reasons. I think that there are concerns, and some of them are legitimate, and livestock predation is certainly one of them. So we're not trying to sugarcoat that in any way. Evidence elsewhere would suggest that the impact on existing wildlife species will be wholly positive rather than negative, which is perhaps the perception. And equally, the danger to humans with lynx, it would be inaccurate of me to say zero, but it's as close to zero as you could possibly imagine. These are not a dangerous cat. They're not a particularly big cat, so they don't represent a threat to human health. But you're right, John Swinney, the first minister - or the current first minister anyway - has declared, in front of the National Farmers Union, that he has no intention of bringing lynx back. I think we would consider that to be slightly misinformed, maybe even naive.
SIMON: Rogue rewilding, as I understand it, has been done before in the area. Could you tell us about beaver bombing?
CAIRNS: Yeah, beavers are now reasonably common in Scotland. Again, they were a species that was extinct. The fact that we have beavers, or we have a viable beaver population in Scotland, is due to - well, we'll call it nonlegal release. Beaver bombing is the popular term, as you referred to. We don't know whether they were deliberately released, or whether they escaped, or a combination of both.
SIMON: Is there any difference, in your mind, with what some people have apparently done now with the Eurasian lynx?
CAIRNS: Well, the fact of the matter is that releasing an animal without the appropriate license is illegal, and therefore, we would not condone it in any shape or form. Having said that, if you look at the backdrop, if you zoom out and consider the tortuously bureaucratic process and expensive process that a legal reintroduction has to endure, against that backdrop, you can imagine the frustration and the temptation for some people to circumnavigate the system. So I'm not condoning that, but I understand the potential temptation to do so. And I think genuinely the government agencies involved have to look at themselves in the mirror and say, you know, in part, at least, were we party to this illegal release if indeed it did take place by so-called rogue rewilders? And we - as I say, we don't know that for sure.
SIMON: Peter Cairns, who's head of rewilding with the nonprofit group Scotland: The Big Picture. Thanks so much for being with us.
CAIRNS: You're very welcome. Thank you.
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