Wildlife body loses lynx reintroduction High Court challenge

An organisation trying to bring lynx back to northern England has lost a High Court challenge.

Lynx UK Trust applied for a three-year trial in 2022 which could have seen three of the animals from Sweden released into Kielder Forest, but it was refused by Natural England.

The trust challenged the environmental body over the refusal to proceed to a full assessment but Ms Justice Obi dismissed the claim, saying: "On Natural England's understanding of the law, the proposed release could not lawfully be implemented."

In July, Northumberland County Council backed a motion stating it would not support any effort to release lynx into the wild.

The big cats have been extinct in the wild in the UK for centuries, but plans have been made to reintroduce the animals in the hope of helping biodiversity and controlling deer populations.

A year-long social consultation by the Missing Lynx Project found 72% of people in the North East supported the reintroduction of the big cats , but opponents believe lynx could attack sheep and other livestock.

Non-aligned Rothbury councillor Steven Bridgett, who proposed the council's motion, called the High Court result excellent.

Lynx UK Trust originally applied in 2017 for six lynx to be released into the forest as part of a five-year trial, but this was refused by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) the following year.

The group then submitted a revised proposal in 2022 for a three-year trial involving the release of the three lynx from Sweden.

But that was also refused by Natural England the same year, with the body claiming such a release was prohibited by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (DWAA), which makes it an offence to release certain animals into the wild.

Lynx UK Trust challenged the refusal in the High Court, with its lawyers claiming the animals could still be released under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA).

The WCA allows authorities to issue licences for the release of animals which are not "ordinarily resident" in the wild in the UK, despite the terms of DWAA.

The trust also argued at the hearing earlier this month the terms of the DWAA had been "impliedly repealed" by the terms of the WCA.

Natural England and Defra opposed the claim.

In a 16-page judgment, Obi said: "Properly construed, the DWAA continues to apply to lynx as a scheduled dangerous wild animal.

"I am unable to accept either the claimant's primary submission that the Act ceases to apply upon deliberate release pursuant to a licence under... the WCA, or its alternative submission that the relevant provisions have been impliedly repealed by the later enactment of the WCA."

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