Lynx on the loose!

[bunn]

Police are searching for a Eurasian Lynx that escaped from Dartmoor Zoo overnight.  It had dug its way out of its enclosure after arriving yesterday.

I wonder if they will be able to find it, in this area of tangled woods, rivers, heathland and small meadows or if it will join the illicit beavers and Nobody Mention the wild boar as permanent residents.

That's assuming, of course, that we don't have lynx already.  I know the previous owner of the zoo was convinced that there were wild lynx in the area, but he was a bit nutty, so I'm not entirely convinced that the lynx he thought he had seen signs of weren't actually his own lynx who had popped out for a wander about before going home for lunch. :-D  On the other hand, the Legendary Dartmoor site has a very jolly list of big cat sightings on the moor, so who knows?  Maybe this one will join a breeding population.  After the Dangerous Wild Animals act in 1976, a number of cats of various kinds were released by private owners who were unable to meet the new license requirements, and some people think some of them have naturalised.

I just hope that if they do catch a lynx, it matches the description.  We had an incident a while ago with an escaped beaver, which when recaptured had apparently become several years younger and changed sex, which was just confusing for everyone :-D

I can live with wandering lynx, but I do hope they will keep a careful eye on the jaguar. 

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

The comical thing about the beaver is that I have yet to see a news story drawing the conclusion that there must be two beavers :-D