dufc1980 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Although having said I can already picture the headlines "MONSTER BEAR MAULS CHILD TO DEATH!" and resulting public outcry and cull of the bears here.Maybe not so sensible (for their sake, mainly) to reintroduce them into a land populated by people so prone to kneejerk reactions. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doink Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Currently there are beavers living wild around some areas of Scotland. There are some on the Tay which have been illeagally released or escaped from private collections. Their fate will be decided when the Beaver trial in Knapdale, Argyll, is finished. I think we should bring back the Lynx with a view for later bringing back wolves. These animals would control deer numbers and restore the natural habitat. Deer currently have no natural predators and so are overgrazing the land and destroying precious habitats such as the ancient Caledonian Pine Forests. This has been seen in Yellowstone National Park where the wolves totally transformed the landscape when they were reintroduced and began to prey on the caribou. Lynx and/or wolves would bring deer numbers down in Scotland and drive them to the uplands and out of the valleys. These animals would also be excellent for Scottish wildlife tourism and potentially boost the economy in that sense. I don't think bringing back bears would be a good idea as I think the threat they pose to humans is too high. What do you think? The threat to humans is the best reason to bring them back. Anyway, i saw Gordon Buchanan hanging out with bears on TV. They seemed good muckers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doink Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Although having said I can already picture the headlines "MONSTER BEAR MAULS CHILD TO DEATH!" and resulting public outcry and cull of the bears here. Maybe not so sensible (for their sake, mainly) to reintroduce them into a land populated by people so prone to kneejerk reactions. The Star would lead with " Bears are c***s " 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullywee Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Elephants would boost tourism. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzdrk Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 went for everything except beavers c***s 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Kill to eat as many as you wish of either; culling greys cos' ginger squirrels existed here first is still a ridiculous stance. OK we get it You don't like Gingers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Pleasantly surprised by the results of this poll, I definitely thought I would be pretty much alone in wanting bears in addition to everything else. Yeah, it seems the positives of doing so (wildlife tourism, controlling overpopulation etc.) would far outweigh the negatives (attacks on humans, issues with livestock etc.). Not many bears could populate the country anyway, given they generally require a large amount of land and food to sustain them, so numbers would be very low which should limit attacks on humans. In addition to this bears could be carefully tracked and monitored within the country to further reduce the likelihood of attacks on humans. Wild boar would be fantastic for hunting as well! I voted for everything except bears - unfortunately, I don't think enough of their habitat still exists unfragmented to make a reintroduction viable. Actually caught a brief glimpse of a wild boar in France once - we were travelling round Normandy and had stopped off at the big D-Day cemetery that was in Saving Private Ryan. There's paths down to the cliffs and we caught sight of one mooching about in one of the gullies off them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonksy+HisChristianParade Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Would have everything except bears. If you're going on a hike worrying about encountering a bear is simply a pain in the arse e.g. having to make loads of noise or bring bear spray etc. Having ran into a bear before, whilst quite exciting, it's not something I'd like to repeat. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityDave Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Can't wait to suddenly confront a black bear raking around in the wheelie bins at half 5 in the morning on my way to work. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmothecat Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 That's an issue. In other countries where wolves live, farmers are given grants to compensate for the loss of livestock. The question then is where would the money come from to do this? I reckon the income generated from resulting tourism could go some of the way for covering this. For the greater good I think it needs to be done. If other countries can cope then there is no reason why we can't either. How much difference will wolves make to tourism? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1320Lichtie Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 If we had bears and wolves roaming about I'd be nowhere near the countryside. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 There are already large cats that prowl about in the wild in Scotland - my Dad saw a massive cat that was about the size of a sheep near Contin once and i have heard many other similar stories including the Banff beast 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityDave Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 If we had bears and wolves roaming about I'd be nowhere near the countryside. Why worry it would be a perfectly natural death and you'd be doing your bit for conservation. Aye people need to be educated if we have these large predators roaming about, specially the bit about not feeding them. I sure there is an estate in Sutherland that already have wolves. Wolves are supposed to have large territories to run around but generally stay clear of humans so shouldn't be a problem. Its bears and people that could be a problem and regardless of fences and natural barriers bears will find their way into cities and towns and cause problems just as they do in the U.S or Canada. I'm alright with wolves but there can't be a lot of space for them left where they don't cross paths with humans, but no to bears. Not sure about lynx, we already have very few wildcats left and adding lynx into areas where there are wildcats might be a problem for them since lynx might kill any wildcats it finds . However up here in the Highlands especially in the lower Cairngorms we have too many rabbits and very few natural predators to keep the numbers in check since the raptors tend to get poisoned illegally by some farmers and gamekeepers. We already have beaver in the West Highlands and Wild Boar. Wild Boar have been around for a few years but I don't know if they are left to roam free, wild boar can be dangerous. As I said people need to be educated and the proof of this is in the killing of almost all the re-introduced Red Kites up here in the North of Scotland. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I like beavers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1320Lichtie Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 I like beavers Beavers are cool. They're dams are smart too. Bring back beavers 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CityDave Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throbber Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Beavers are cool. They're dams are smart too. Bring back beavers Do beavers live in rivers or lochs/lakes? I always thought they liked large wide and deep rivers from what i have seen of them 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topcat(The most tip top) Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) i have heard many other similar stories including the Banff beastI think I dated her in the mid '90s Edited February 7, 2015 by topcat(The most tip top) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invergowrie arab Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 A few people have spoken about wolves in Sutherland. That plan was shelved. The brainchild of king of the dicks Paul lister for his alladale estate. He claims it is rewilding but it's just a big safari park, the animals are in enclosures and are fed. There is no ecological or scientific value to what he does. I'm all for giving this a bash and anything that reduces deer and sheep numbers is fine by me. If that makes farming either of them uneconomical tough shit. They are both four footed locusts who keep the highlands in its present state of an ecological monoculture. Go and take a walk along upper Glen feshie or Glen lui to see what Scotland free if deer and sheep looks like. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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