The entire sheep population of the UK will be insured against lynx attacks or losses if a trial reintroduction of six animals in Kielder forest gets approval from Natural England.
A specialist division of insurance giant Lloyds of London has agreed to provide cover for all sheep, pets and humans in the event of any attack – a development which the Lynx UK Trust has described as a “game changer”.
The Trust’s chief scientific adviser, Dr Paul O’Donoghue, said attacks by lynx were extremely rare and he hoped the offer by the largest insurance market in the world to cover any attacks would give farmers confidence.
However the guarantees cut no ice with John Fyall, chairman of the National Sheep Association (NSA) in Scotland, who described the assurances are meaningless.
“They don’t change the industry’s firm opposition to a reintroduction,” he said.
“Any assurances we get from the Lynx UK Trust mean nothing to me until we get a proper enquiry into the proposal. Money and potential losses are just a small part of our concerns and we genuinely don’t believe there is in any need for this proposed reintroduction.”
If Natural England approve the Trust’s application, six lynx will be reintroduced for a five year period and closely monitored with satellite tracking and other tools to see how they fit back into the UK ecosystem.
Lloyds Syndicate ARK Speciality Programs will provide insurance and their head, Richard Bryant is enthusiastic about supporting the trial.
“We’re excited and privileged to be working in partnership with the Lynx UK Trust to successfully reintroduce the lynx, and I hope this insurance cover will provide sound financial security for the Trust so they will be able to generously compensate farmers if any of their sheep are injured or killed,” he said.
“Having assessed all the science and research on lynx predation we’re very confident that sheep attacks will be rare, so if our support can help make a trial reintroduction practical it’s a great opportunity for us to do something really positive. I believe this is the first time insurance has been used to assist a reintroduction project in the UK so we’re very excited about it.”
nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk
