View Full Version : Wild animals to be released in Scotland?
gillmacca
27-11-2004, 17:59
Found this today in a newsgroup and was wondering if anyone can shed any light on it (true/false or any further info):
Heard on Radio 4 this morning. The (newish) owner of the Alladale (sp?)
Estate (north of Inverness) is proposing to (re)introduce bison, lynx,
bears and most controversially bears to the Scottish Highlands.
Found this today in a newsgroup and was wondering if anyone can shed any light on it (true/false or any further info):
Heard on Radio 4 this morning. The (newish) owner of the Alladale (sp?)
Estate (north of Inverness) is proposing to (re)introduce bison, lynx,
bears and most controversially bears to the Scottish Highlands.
What's the difference between bears and controversial bears !! :o):
I guess you mean wolves?
Cheers,
Martin
P.s. it is true
gillmacca
27-11-2004, 18:05
I just cut and pasted from the newsgroup.
I guess they mean wolves
Timberwolfinformation.org (http://timberwolfinformation.org/info/archieve/newspapers/viewnews.cfm?ID=1964) has a bit more info
Martin
Wild animals to be released in Scotland?
Football fans? :wink:
"Guests, some of whom may arrive by helicopter from Inverness, will pay between �15,000 and �20,000 to rent Alladale Lodge for a week. Daytrippers will be offered conducted tours by rangers."
well doesnt looke like i will be visiting..
i'v wanted to see projects like this for a long time.. im really glad to see it.. thanks for the link! :biggthump
Tantalus
27-11-2004, 20:28
tomtom, as long as you are just walking i suspect you may be able to wander the area freely
camping may get you a prompt eviction but trespass laws in scotland allow you considerable freedom :)
Tant
trespass laws in scotland allow you considerable freedom
an 8 foot electric fence doesnt.. who knows how they would work it.. i should imagen it would be hard for them to get insurance to let people walk around with nothing between them and the animals?
Tantalus
27-11-2004, 20:46
oops i missed that, just skimmed the article
lovely to see that someone would like to reintroduce these animals tho
personally I am delighted
dunno how big the enclosures will be if they plan to fence them in with 8' fences
Tant
be cool if they just fenced round the entire 23,00 acers then jus let everything run wild within
bothyman
27-11-2004, 21:46
I heard this one on the radio this morning, it just down the road from me.
A couple of nice Bothies there that I used to go to. :yikes:
Bears?? someone mentioned a Bearskin Parka?? anybody got any patterns for one?? :chill:
Carcajou Garou
27-11-2004, 21:55
Is it just me or does some one else I see a parallel between this and "Jurasic Park", remember the Chaos theory :o):
Sounds great- how do I apply for a rangers job??
Is it just me or does some one else I see a parallel between this and "Jurasic Park", remember the Chaos theory :o):
yup.. but this sounds much better!! :wink:
Cairodel
28-11-2004, 10:05
How will they get the Bears to leave their home comforts behind in Glasgow??? :o):
Sounds good to me, why keep them penned up in one estate though?
David
Sounds good to me, why keep them penned up in one estate though?
David
David.. while most of us would like to see that two.. our excitement is largely because this is a BIG step in the right direction :biggthump
Only 23000 acres? Not very big. More like a safari park than anything else. The stocking density would be so small that you'd never see any of the animals unless they fed them - in which case you're as well going to Longleat. IMO
George
hobbitboy
28-11-2004, 14:02
The times ran an article on this last sunday, it mentioned that there was potential for a few of the major land owners (one who owned 85,000acres) all going into the scheme together. Would be fantastic to see wolves roaming the highlands. Also the Times mentioned that the animals would be allowed to hunt instead of being fed by keepers......
:o): :o): :o):
£15,000 is a lot though..........
yeh the artical mentioned above says that the guy is trying to get adjoining landowners to join in! :biggthump
arctic hobo
28-11-2004, 14:50
Bears?? someone mentioned a Bearskin Parka?? anybody got any patterns for one?? :chill:
That was me :wave: best things in the world! Ever!
This sounds fantastic! I only wish it was a real species reintroduction, as in wild animals roaming. *sigh*
bambodoggy
30-11-2004, 14:24
I'm not sure about this 8ft fence thing....over that sort of distance the fence could/would be breached by one or all of these larger breeds at some point....still here's hoping anyway! :o): Maybe we could run bushcraft courses up there and at the same time train the wolves and bears to use wirecutters.....and is the fence aimed at keeping them in or us unpaying visitors out?
Is a contraversial bear one that votes "berry" in a "nut" strong hold or visa-versa?
On a serious note, I'm all for the re-introduction of these things IF we have managed to not build all over their natural habbitat....no point releasing them just to watch them starve slowly to death because there's not enough resourses.....I think I said something similar in the "Naked Bushcraft" thread but about us humans.
It's a bit sad what they say in the article about the animal right mob maybe sticking their noses in coz the wolves would eat the deer. I'm almost 100% sure that everyone on this forum is an animal/nature lover but I can't understand what is to complain about... I can see an argument for animal testing, fox hunting etc (not going into details or expressing a like or dislike of anything here as it's not the place so please don't reply to this bit) but this is nature in it's most natural form....ok so the deer have a right to live....but hang on, so do the wolves and what right is it of ours to say which can live and which can't....nature does that in the old "survival of the fitest" and "Natural selection", and it all seems to work quite nicely thank you until humans get involved....if there are too many deer the wolves will eat more and have larger litters and if they eat too many then the wolve population drop....it's a balance thing! Ok, so that's avery simplistic explanation but you get the idea.
Wups....way off thread now....see ya! :-P
hobbitboy
30-11-2004, 16:15
Totally agree with your "rant", bambodoggy
but Surely the deer have a right to hunt the wolves........................ ..
Didn't they try something similar a few years ago with wolves on one of the Scottish islands?
IIRC after taking them back to the island for about the 10th time they gave up. The wolves didn't think the island was big enough or had enough game, so they kept swimming to the mainland...
Personaly I'd love to see them all back and roaming free.
bambodoggy
30-11-2004, 16:55
Me too....and if what you said about them swimming is true then hey, they're doing their bit alright....we just need to leave them to get on with it!
They've been releasing wolves back into a few of the larger US National parks..Yellowstone etc and that seems to be working ok... Any US members what to tell us more...for or against?