Eurasian lynx were extirpated from Britain around 1,300 years ago, and proposals to reintroduce them to large forests in Scotland and England generate both conservation excitement and livestock welfare concerns.
Reintroduced lynx in Europe face persecution from gamekeepers and farmers, road mortality in fragmented landscapes, and social isolation in genetically small founding populations. Prey species killed by lynx experience rapid death characteristic of efficient predators, generally causing less suffering than alternatives. Livestock welfare concerns require evidence-based rather than precautionary management responses.