Reintroduced Animals

Wildcats Awa'!

Scottish wildcats bred in captivity have been released into the UK's biggest national park in a bid to save the critically endangered species.

It is the first in a series of trial releases at undisclosed locations in the Cairngorms. The Saving Wildcats project began introducing the 22 cats to the park last week. Previous research concluded the species was "functionally extinct" in the wild, partly due to breeding with feral cats.

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Disease and habitat loss have also been blamed for reducing their numbers.

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which is leading the Saving Wildcats partnership, will monitor the released wildcats using GPS-radio collars. About 60 wildcats will be released over the next three years.

The project was approved under licence by NatureScot and is the first-ever conservation translocation of wildcats in Britain.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-65913889
 
ramonmercado said:
Wildcats Awa'!

Scottish wildcats bred in captivity have been released into the UK's biggest national park in a bid to save the critically endangered species.

It is the first in a series of trial releases at undisclosed locations in the Cairngorms. The Saving Wildcats project began introducing the 22 cats to the park last week. Previous research concluded the species was "functionally extinct" in the wild, partly due to breeding with feral cats.

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Disease and habitat loss have also been blamed for reducing their numbers.

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), which is leading the Saving Wildcats partnership, will monitor the released wildcats using GPS-radio collars. About 60 wildcats will be released over the next three years.

The project was approved under licence by NatureScot and is the first-ever conservation translocation of wildcats in Britain.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-65913889
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But can you pat them and say "puss, puss, puss"?
 
ramonmercado said:
Scottish wildcats bred in captivity have been released into the UK's biggest national park
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Is this going to end up as one of those 'unexpected consequences' stories, with whole flocks of sheep being slaughtered or summat?
I hope not.
 
Now I like wildcats, but also like muntjacs....but which is better?

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FIGHT!!!!!!!
 
blessmycottonsocks said:
But can you pat them and say "puss, puss, puss"?
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You can. Very, very briefly....
Trevp666 said:
Is this going to end up as one of those 'unexpected consequences' stories, with whole flocks of sheep being slaughtered or summat?
I hope not.
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Um...they aren't very big, Trev. Like a big fluffy domestic moggy. Any sheep worth its mint sauce could fight one off.
 
catseye said:
You can. Very, very briefly....

Um...they aren't very big, Trev. Like a big fluffy domestic moggy. Any sheep worth its mint sauce could fight one off.
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I came across a wild Lynx in Scotland when I was searching for a standing stone (which I did eventually find lying down flat) - high up on a hill, just above a place called 'Alyth.' As it passed fairly close by me following the coarse of a dry burn, (I was luckily well hidden from it at the time, behind thick gorse bushes) that was a completely hair-raising experience - a cat with a real menacing growl, and thick muscles to go with it. Could have taken anything down if it needed to.
 
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Sid said:
I came across a wild Lynx in Scotland - just above a place called Alyth. As it passed by me, (I was well hidden from it behind thick gorse bushes) and that was a completely different experience - a cat with a real growl, and muscles to go with it. Could have taken anything down if it needed to.
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Well yes, but a lynx is a big step up from a wild cat. I mean, I know it's a wild cat but it's not the same as a Scottish Wildcat.
 
catseye said:
Well yes, but a lynx is a big step up from a wild cat. I mean, I know it's a wild cat but it's not the same as a Scottish Wildcat.
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I know, we (Forestry workers) came close to one (Wildcat) once at the edge of a wood, very fleeting though.
I mentioned my Lynx post as a larger comparison to the wild cat, not suggesting the two are as like-for-like.
 
Trevp666 said:
I would pretty much guarantee that it knew you were there.
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No way of knowing that 'Trev666.' If it did, then it certainly wasn't showing any concern as it just wandered on it's way following up the dry burn growling as it went. Probably had a lair up there somewhere well concealed. Seemed like a pretty aged Cat though, as it's power was very obvious. I should also point out that the place where I was hiding behind the gorse, was also higher up above the dry burn, and the air was still - so it probably never even detected that I was there - that's the impression I had at the time though certainly.
 
Sid said:
No way of knowing that 'Trev666.' If it did, then it certainly wasn't showing any concern as it just wandered on it's way following up the dry burn growling as it went. Probably had a lair up there somewhere well concealed. Seemed like a pretty aged Cat though, as it's power was very obvious. I should also point out that the place where I was hiding behind the gorse, was also higher up above the dry burn, and the air was still - so it probably never even detected that I was there - that's the impression I had at the time though certainly.
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Why would it worry? It eats foresters for lunch. They're not all abducted by Aliens ye know.
 
Vid at link.

Northumberland's Wallington Estate welcomes beaver family​

This is the moment a family of four beavers were released in Northumberland in a bid to to boost wildlife and help the landscape deal with climate change.

Once a mainstay of British rivers, beavers became extinct in the 16th Century due to hunting, but in recent years they have been reintroduced.

The latest location is Northumberland's Wallington Estate following successes on Exmoor and the South Downs.

People have been asked to give them time to settle into their new home.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-tyne-66182332
 
Hopefully they won't eat local children,

Lake District welcomes reintroduction of water voles​

This is the moment water voles were reintroduced to the Lake District. Conservationists are releasing about 350 of the small mammals at Haweswater and the Lowther estate.

The water voles have been bred in captivity and are close to the genetic make-up of the voles that would once have been widespread in Cumbria. They are listed as endangered having gone from an estimated population of about eight million to 132,000 over the last century and they have disappeared from 94% of the sites where they once lived, the Eden Rivers Trust said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-cumbria-66522299
 
Trevp666 said:
How big do you think water voles are?
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Well. there have been concerns regarding the reintroduction of wolves.

Because of this, they tend to be aggressive to their neighbours and therefore easier to notice. The female water vole will also deviate from her usual vegetarian diet to eat caddisflies and snails during pregnancy, so will be more active to find this food.

In the absence of caddisflies and snails they might well prey on children.
 
Trevp666 said:
True.
I think an imminent review of the plan to reintroduce water voles is urgently required.
Even if it only saves one child from being devoured, it's worth it.
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They are vegetarian's - with the odd earth-worm, or snail in their diet.
I used to watch them daily in Scotland when I had my lunch-break, I used to walk down this old railway track to a bridge not far from my Gents hairdressers business (which was a weighbridge office a longish time ago - since then it's been demolished and turned into part of a large road roundabout), and while-away the time eating my sandwiches and watching the voles going about their business ~ with the frequent appearances of a large Dragonfly.
*Added comment: I wouldn't think the voles would be there now because of the road changes, and the little burn would now have to be piped under road roundabout tarmac.
 
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ramonmercado said:
Hopefully they won't eat local children,

Lake District welcomes reintroduction of water voles​

This is the moment water voles were reintroduced to the Lake District. Conservationists are releasing about 350 of the small mammals at Haweswater and the Lowther estate.

The water voles have been bred in captivity and are close to the genetic make-up of the voles that would once have been widespread in Cumbria. They are listed as endangered having gone from an estimated population of about eight million to 132,000 over the last century and they have disappeared from 94% of the sites where they once lived, the Eden Rivers Trust said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-cumbria-66522299
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They are such cute looking animals. They remind me of muskrats:
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And when I look both up, they are in the same subfamily.
 
At Towyn not far from Rhyl right at the end of Sandbank rd it narrows into a walk way
were you enter a amusement park or cross the railway, on your right behind a high fence
there is or used to be a small stream, there used to be a thriving colony of water voles
there, they were out all the time took no notice of people at all, often used to watch
them even though at the time they were supposed to be near extinct.
 
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