Eoghan Daltun: We need to talk about a missing native Irish species — the lynx
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Ireland has a massive problem with wild grazers. Visit a pocket of native woodland anywhere in the country and, more likely than not, you’ll see no young trees, no seedlings — none of the extremely rich ground flora that should be present. From about head height down, the forest is stripped bare. Go to Killarney National Park, for example, Ireland’s largest and most important remaining piece of native woodland, and that’s exactly what you’ll find: a dying forest.
The cause is very simple: far too many deer, feral goats, and in some cases livestock like sheep. Evolution arranged that herbivores breed very prolifically: it’s essential to maintaining numbers in the face of predation, which is a feature of any healthy natural ecosystem. But here in Ireland, all our larger natural predators — wolves, bears, and lynx — were driven to extinction. As a result, deer densities have exploded.
People hunt deer too of course, but the effects are very different. While shooting does help, it’s generally far from sufficient to prevent numbers from rising, especially where undertaken by recreational hunters. Much more importantly, it doesn’t shape deer behaviour as their natural predators do. When deer share a landscape with the latter, they are acutely aware there’s a risk and so avoid certain areas that instinct tells them present heightened danger, allowing the vegetation to flourish. A rifle bullet lacks that effect.
The other deer control method — fencing — is extremely expensive, unsightly, doesn’t last long in wet Irish conditions, and has a range of ecological drawbacks. Above all, it replaces one artificial situation, overgrazing, with another: a complete absence of grazing, often allowing faster-growing species like brambles to dominate inside exclosures. Contraceptives are simply not practical and, even were that not the case, they wouldn’t prevent animals from continuing to destroy precious habitats for the duration of their lives — about 15 years for deer.
It needs to be understood that this situation isn’t only a disaster for the tiny remnants of native forest we have left, down from an estimated original of 80% land cover to only around 1% today, but for the deer themselves. Visitors to Killarney National Park, for example, are treated to the sight of sika deer with their ribs showing, all edible vegetation having been stripped away.
Overpopulated deer also present huge issues for human society, with vehicle collisions very common, and even deaths occurring as a result. Deer and feral goats also carry the ticks that are vectors for lyme disease, and in some parts of the country this highly debilitating ailment is a serious issue. It’s clear that something drastically needs to be done. But what?
It's time to start talking about bringing back our lost native predators. Virtually everywhere else in Europe, bar Britain, species that had been killed off are returning naturally: wolves, bears, lynx, even to very densely populated countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Resulting problems have been minimal, with the vast majority of people welcoming their comeback. Of course, the sea barrier makes this impossible on these islands, so we’ll have to be more pro-active if we want our natural ecosystems to regain some balance.
There have been calls to bring back wolves, but my own view is that Ireland isn’t ready for these amazing animals. Ecologically yes, but not socially. The fact that they’re pack animals, and do present some (extremely tiny) danger to people as well as livestock makes them a step too far for many right now. The lynx, on the other hand, carries none of that baggage.
Most people don’t know much about lynx, but they’re wonderfully handsome medium-sized cats, just a little bigger than a Labrador dog. Solitary and very elusive animals, their natural habitat is forest. If we had lynx back in Ireland, sightings would almost certainly be quite rare, but their presence would still add a very welcome frisson of excitement to the landscape, and they’d be working away 24-7 to control deer numbers and behaviour.
The cats would also help repair other dysfunctional aspects of Ireland’s ecology, such as overly high fox numbers, which have been very problematic for ground-nesting birds. However, like any one species, they shouldn’t be seen as a ‘silver bullet’ to deer overpopulation or other ecological issues, but rather as one of many components that help make ecosystems function as they should.
Not in the slightest. There are no records of them ever having attacked people.
Actually, no. Lynx are forest creatures, ambushing their prey in that environment. As long as farmers keep their animals out of forests (they shouldn’t be there anyway), there wouldn’t be a problem.
Nonetheless, it would be absolutely crucial to have farmers and rural communities on board with a lynx reintroduction. Without their buy-in, it shouldn’t happen. That can be achieved through a widespread, genuine consultative process and no-nonsense compensation mechanisms for any livestock losses. Furthermore, increased farm subsidies for any land known to be part of a lynx territory would go a very long way towards a successful programme, with farmers and rural communities seeing them as an asset, rather than a liability imposed from outside. The return of the white-tailed eagle, initially resisted by farmers but now without issues, serves as an excellent template for how reintroductions should be done.
The release of lynx in the Harz Mountains in Germany is estimated to have added £12.5 million sterling annually to the local economy through enhanced tourism. Imagine the same in Killarney, and other parts of Ireland. Imagine the thrill of walking in a wild place with the knowledge that such a wonderful animal may have passed that way earlier. Imagine the statement bringing back the lynx would make regarding our maturity as a nation, willing to share the land with this exquisitely beautiful native cat once more.
- Eoghan Daltun is author of . He is on Twitter and Instagram under @IrishRainforest