Canadian lynx discovery in Britain

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This video is called CANADIAN LYNX – Species Spotlight.

From Wildlife Extra:

Museum find proves exotic ‘big cat’ prowled British countryside a century ago

Canadian Lynx shot in Devon in 1900

April 2013. An old skeleton, found in a warehouse of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, of an animal shot around 1900 in Devon has proved to be that of a Canadian Lynx.

The study of the Canadian lynx, rediscovered by research team member Max Blake among hundreds of thousands of specimens at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, details records unearthed at the museum which showed the animal had originally been mislabelled by Edwardian curators in 1903 as a Eurasian lynx – a close relative of the Canadian lynx.

The animal’s skeleton and mounted skin was analysed by a multi-disciplinary team of Durham University scientists and fellow researchers at Bristol, Southampton and Aberystwyth universities and found to be a Canadian lynx – a carnivorous predator more than twice the size of a domestic cat.

Earliest example of ‘Alien big cat‘ in Britain

The research establishes the animal as the earliest example of an “alien big cat” at large in the British countryside.

1976 Wild Animals Act

The research team say this provides further evidence for debunking a popular hypothesis that wild cats entered the British countryside following the introduction of the 1976 Wild Animals Act. The Act was introduced to deal with an increasing fashion for exotic – and potentially dangerous – pets.

The academics believe such feral “British big cats” as they are known, may have lived in the wild much earlier, through escapes and even deliberate release. There is no evidence that such animals have been able to breed in the wild.

Shot in Devon

The records also showed that the lynx was shot by a landowner in the Devon countryside in the early 1900s, after it killed two dogs. (Another lynx was found in a freezer in 1991 in Norfolk).

“This Edwardian feral lynx provides concrete evidence that although rare, exotic felids have occasionally been part of British fauna for more than a century,” said lead researcher, Dr Ross Barnett, formerly of Durham University and now Marie Curie Fellow with the Natural History Museum of Denmark at the University of Copenhagen.

“The animal remains are significant in representing the first historic big cat from Britain.”

Co-author Dr Darren Naish, from the University of Southampton, added: “There have been enough sightings of exotic big cats which substantially pre-date 1976 to cast doubt on the idea that one piece of legislation made in 1976 explains all releases of these animals in the UK.

“It seems more likely that escapes and releases have occurred throughout history, and that this continual presence of aliens explains the ‘British big cat‘ phenomenon.”

The researchers point out in their paper that Eurasian lynxes existed in the wild in Britain many hundreds of years ago, but had almost certainly become extinct by the 7th century.

Kept in captivity

Morphometric and stable isotope analyses identified the specimen as a Canadian lynx, while analysis of its bones and teeth established it had been kept in captivity long enough to develop severe tooth loss and plaque before it either escaped or was deliberately released into the wild.

Ancient DNA analysis of hair from the lynx proved inconclusive, possibly due to chemicals applied to the pelt during taxidermy.

Julie Finch, head of Bristol’s Museums, Galleries & Archives, said: “Bristol Museum, Galleries and Archives were pleased to be a part of this ground-breaking research, which not only highlights the importance of our science collections, it establishes the pedigree of our 100-year old Lynx and adds to our knowledge and understanding of ‘big cats’ in the UK.

“Our museum collections are extensive and caring for them requires the considerable skills of our collections officers. We have an amazing collection of taxidermy animals on display and we welcome museum visitors to come along, to take a closer look and discover more about the natural world.”

Dr Greger Larson, a member of the research team from Durham University and an expert in the migration of animals, said: “Every few years there is another claim that big cats are living wild in Britain, but none of these claims have been substantiated. It seems that big cats are to England what the Loch Ness Monster is to Scotland.

“By applying a robust scientific methodology, this study conclusively demonstrates that at least one big cat did roam Britain as early as the Edwardian era, and suggests that additional claims need to be subjected to this level of scrutiny.”

The lynx is now on public display at the museum. For further details, click here.

The research was published in the academic journal Historical Biology.

BIG CATS IN BRITAIN

Despite years of claims and alleged sightings, there has never been any proof that big cats are roaming our countryside. A lynx that was shot in Norfolk in the early 1990s was apparently an esapee from a local zoo, and there have been several claims that ‘Small big cats’ such as leopard cats and swamp cats have been run over, there has never been any proof that these land based Nessies exist.

There is, of course, great conspiracy theories that suggest it is all a great police and government cover up, along with UFO and man on the moon. That will be the same police that broadcasted their efforts to destroy a toy tiger on a golf course in Hampshire in 2011.

If you want to read more, have a look at The British Big Cats Society website – still displaying a photo of the lynx from the early 1990s.

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