It appears that if the authorities can be persuaded of the case, the lynx could be the next species to be released into the Scottish countryside.
An area in Aberdeenshire is one of three in the UK identified as suitable for a pilot project.
Not surprisingly the National Sheep Association (NSA) has expressed alarm, and contacted Natural England and an influential UK peer to voice its opposition.
NSA believes reintroducing lynx after more than 1,300 years of extinction will pose a real threat to British livestock, and even trial work with this member of the cat family will lead to predation of livestock, in particular, ewes and lambs.
Phil Stocker, NSA chief executive, has written to James Cross, head at Natural England, and also to Lord De Mauley, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Defra.
“Our primary concern is that the lynx will threaten livelihoods and businesses within the farming industry. Ewes and lambs would be much easier prey than deer because they can’t get away so quickly,” Mr Stocker says.
Sheep farming members have expressed concern to NSA since the conservation charity, the Lynx UK Trust, announced plans to submit an official application to Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage.
The charity hopes that, if successful, the lynx would then be reintroduced into three regions in Aberdeenshire, Cumbria and Suffolk.
Mr Stocker believes that the charity hasn’t considered the long-term implications of the project.
“It’s all very well to talk about the release of six or eight lynx, but how do you control them in the years to come when numbers get to a point where they threaten sheep in the area?
“The Lynx UK Trust is going to try to soften the blow by talking about a five-year project, but I think putting a stop to it after five years will be very difficult.”