Wolves, bears and lynx are among the species that would have once roamed the UK’s countryside in significant numbers, before being forced out through culls and over hunting by an ever growing human population.
But experts now believe that, by reintroducing some of these species, we can benefit not just from the opportunity to see these animals in the wild, but also from the ecological and environmental impact they could have.
Here’s a list of some of the species that conservation groups want to see reintroduced to the UK.
7. Bison
Though we tend to think of them as an American species, the European Bison would at one point have been found throughout the continent, including the UK. A new project in Kent hopes to make this a reality once again, at the Wilder Blean project. Photo: (Photo: Shutterstock)
8. Lynx
Efforts to see lynx reintroduced to the UK countryside have not been successful as yet, though many campaigners want to see these elusive hunters return to the Scottish Highlands as well as the forests of northern England, for their potential to help woodland regeneration by managing deer populations. Photo: (Photo: Shutterstock)
9. Great bustard
It’s not hard to see why the great bustard was hunted to extinction, as it weighs in at up to 20kg and stands a metre tall with a 2.5 metre wingspan, making it the heaviest flying bird in the world. But 15 years into a difficult reintroduction program, the small population is now thought to be self-sustaining. Photo: (Photo: Shutterstock)
10. Chequered skipper
After disappearing from England due to an unusually hot summer in 1976, a project to re-establish the population of chequered skipper butterflies in Northamptonshire is progressing nicely, after 42 adults were imported from Belgium in 2018. Photo: (Photo: Shutterstock)