Having announced last moth that it was narrowing down options and working with local groups at a range of mooted release sites around mainland Britain, the Lynx UK Trust announced on Monday that it has chosen a location, which will become the focus of efforts to oversee a trial reintroduction of eurasian lynx into the UK.

Lynx are medium sized cats, they can grow up to a metre and a half in length and prefer forest habitat and hunt by ambushing their prey. The animals were wiped out in the UK over a thousand years ago, and the wild population in Europe fell to just 700 individuals in the 1940s, though a series of conservation efforts, reintroductions and recolonisations (wild animals returning to a country spontaneously) have seen numbers climb to around 8,000 nowadays.

Campaigners hoping to reintroduce lynx to Britain believe that their return would benefit forest ecosystems, preventing overgrazing by deer and bringing in money from eco-tourism. Public consultations over the past 18 months have shown huge public support for the idea, though sheep farming groups remain vehemently opposed. Reintroduction campaigners maintain that there is no evidence of any attacks on humans by healthy wild lynx and say they prefer wild prey, rarely attacking agricultural animals.

According to Lynx UK Trust, research suggests each wild lynx kills an average of 0.4 sheep per year.

On Monday, the Trust revealed that it will focus on Kielder Forest, spanning Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, as the preferred site for a trial reintroduction to take place. Research into the sites earmarked by the group last year showed Kielder to be the ideal location, based on factors including:

• Its large area of continuous forest, with less access to sheep farms
• Its situation in an economically deprived area, where the economic value of lynx reintroduction would be felt most (up to £15,000 per animal, according to the Trust)
• Its low human population density and fewer roads and railways would mean lynx are comparatively safer.

Commenting on the selection on Monday, Dr Paul O'Donoghue, Chief Scientific Advisor for the Trust, said, “It was important to really investigate what each site offered and to pay real attention to what stakeholders were telling us. Balancing up the many factors Kielder has continually stood out as a place where the lynx can flourish and bring huge benefits to the local community.”

He added, “This is by no means a final decision or a foregone conclusion. We’re very interested in what everyone in this region has to say about the idea. They could be living and working alongside the lynx in the near future, which really is an unprecedented opportunity in the history of UK wildlife reintroductions.”

However, after a meeting with other stakeholder groups in June, the National Sheep Association said it did not feel that Lynx UK Trust “Adequately responded to the concerns of sheep farmers.” NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker said at the time said the NSA would not engage unless the Trust had gained a license from the National Trust, which oversees reintroductions. Stocker said, “We feel it is inappropriate for NSA to provide guidance to Lynx UK ahead of that licence application, as we remain opposed to any pilot taking place.”

Commenting on the reintroduction bid on Monday, a Natural England spokesperson said, “With the reintroduction of any species, there are a number of factors we need to consider carefully. We assess reintroduction applications on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the environmental and socio-economic impacts, as well as how the animals themselves might be affected.”

The spokesperson said any license application would be considered on a case-by-case basis, with checks to ensure that it conformed to international guidelines and had public support. As yet, no application has been made to reintroduce lynx into the UK.

Even so, the Trust is already consulting with groups in the Kielder area, and will host an event to meet with locals on 11th August. According to its legal advisors, Clifford Chance, the UK government has a general legal obligation to bring back extinct species, and lynx are an ideal candidate species for reintroduction