Members' Business — S6M-07598 Kenneth Gibson: Bringing Back the Eurasian Lynx to Scotland

That the Parliament notes the recent campaign for the Eurasian lynx, a medium-sized wildcat native to Scotland, to be reintroduced; understands that lynx have been extinct in Britain for around 500 years; is aware that this was probably caused by widespread loss of woodland, the collapse of wild deer populations and hunting by humans; acknowledges a study carried out by the Lynx to Scotland partnership, made up of Trees for Life, Lifescape and Scotland: The Big Picture, which sought to assess the social feasibility of potential lynx reintroduction through consultation with stakeholders and communities in the Cairngorms National Park and Argyll, and found that there was sufficient support for lynx reintroduction among stakeholders and a desire among others to further investigate the potential, to warrant a continued exploration of feasibility; considers that the case for lynx reintroduction is both moral and ecological and that lynx would make Scotland’s ecosystems richer and stronger; believes that lynx are an important species due to their role in maintaining balance and diversity in an ecosystem, as they help regulate numbers and behaviour of deer and some smaller carnivores; is aware that lynx are mainly crepuscular animals, and pose no danger to people; considers that attacks on livestock such as sheep are uncommon; is aware that lynx have slowly spread across mainland Europe in the last few decades, and have been reintroduced in several European countries, including Germany, Switzerland and France; believes that lynx could also act as high-profile ambassadors for nature-rich landscapes, attracting valuable tourism revenue in Scotland’s rural communities, and notes the calls on the Scottish Government to rectify lynx extinction in Scotland by a controlled reintroduction, once the necessary ecological and practical assessments have been undertaken.