Reintroducing the Lynx

Here is a man doing something which you and I probably wouldn't dare do: he's riding a bicycle along a road. Okay, so it's a dirt road and the swathes of sand which cover it can be as slippery as black ice on a British winter road and, yes, it's in Tanzania, where the drivers of vehicles treat cyclists with disdain. But it's a nice empty road, a straight one, and it's a sunny, if rather hot day, so why is this man so brave?

Simply, because this is in a National Park, Saadani National Park, which is home, amongst other things, to lions, leopards, elephants and Cape buffalo. And he's miles from anywhere.

Would you ride your bicycle down a long, lonely road with the surrounding bush full of nasty animals? I'm not sure I would and, if I did, I'd be terrified. But to him, it's normal.

The many people who live in National Parks in Africa are quite used to this, and accept it because the parks bring in tourists who spend money which creates jobs. However, there is a different sort of price to pay, because occasionally they run in to one of these beasts, perhaps a male elephant on musth or a lion which has a paw full of porcupine quills, and don't survive the encounter.

This comes to mind because a report has recently been published which explores the possibility of releasing lynx back into the wilds of Scotland. The report concludes that it's something we should aim at, but not yet, the main reason being that the lynx might eat someone's sheep. The research they did suggested, however, that people weren't too worried about having lynx around - well, they don't eat humans, do they?

If we want to be able to travel to Africa to see its magnificent wildlife preserved for future generations, and if we are prepared to set up charities and other bodies to help preserve the elephants and lions of that great continent knowing that it's at the expense of a few humans, shouldn't we be able to do our part by reintroducing, and preserving, an animal which was once native to this country but which we exterminated?

A brief 3-minute clip on BBC Sounds about lion killings in Tanzania is here, and the lynx story is covered on the BBC News website here.