LYNX? Over my dead body.

In 2018, former Scottish Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing declared that the reintroduction of lynx to Scotland would happen "over my dead body."

Seven years later, in 2025, First Minister John Swinney echoed that position, telling the National Farmers Union Scotland that lynx would not be reintroduced on his watch.

These statements stand in stark contrast to the Scottish Government's own commitment to restore and regenerate nature by 2045.

So, while scientists and conservationists continue to build an ever-stronger ecological case for bringing lynx back, the biggest barrier is no longer habitat or prey. It's politics.

Additional info

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This episode of At The Edge is produced in partnership with Adventurous Audio and is kindly supported by Ballintean Mountain Lodge.

Useful links

Meet the contributors from this episode on social media: Colin Murdoch, Lizzy Westman, Ruari Ormiston, John MacPherson and Ariane Burgess.

My thanks to Charlotte Maddix for checking the finer political framing.

Learn more about Lynx to Scotland and The Missing Lynx Project - both sites provide a wealth of information about lynx and the current conversation about their potential reintroduction.

David Hetherington's book The Lynx and Us, is an excellent resource for background information about lynx.

Read the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045.