The Missing Lynx Project
The Missing Lynx Project – a new partnership between Northumberland Wildlife Trust, The Lifescape Project and The Wildlife Trusts – is hosting a new touring exhibition in Northumberland, the edge of Cumbria and the border of southern Scotland during spring and summer 2024. It will provide people with the opportunity to find out about this missing mammal, which used to live in Britain but disappeared in medieval times following woodland habitat loss.
The free exhibition will use interactive displays to bring the lynx to life. Visitors will be able to discover how our landscape has changed over the years, how nature has been lost and how it might fare better in the future. The Missing Lynx exhibition will also chart the lynx’s comeback across Europe.
Lynx are medium-sized cats with distinctive tufted ears and short tails – similar in size to a slim labrador but with golden fur and black spots. Their big paws allow them to pad silently through their forest home, and even though they are found all over mainland Europe, they are seldom seen and live alone. Once part of the rich mix of wildlife found in our countryside, replacing missing species such as lynx, can help to rebuild a healthy natural world. Nature is currently in crisis and one in six species are at risk of extinction in the United Kingdom.
However, lynx could only be brought back if the conditions are right – there needs to be an area in Britain where lynx have the right natural habitat to survive and somewhere that local people are accepting of the animal back in the landscape.
The Missing Lynx exhibition is our project’s first step in listening to local people’s opinions. Our research has shown that if lynx were to be released into Northumberland they could grow into a healthy and sustainable population. The habitat patch where lynx would be predicted to successfully live covers north-west Northumberland, the edge of Cumbria and into the bordering areas of southern Scotland as the woodland habitat here has recovered. The partnership would support a reintroduction but only if the conditions above are met – and this new project is testing just that by opening up the conversation with local people.
The immersive Missing Lynx exhibition opens on Thursday 11th April, when it will tour local venues providing opportunities for people to have their say by taking part in questionnaires, interviews and discussion groups. We’ll also be launching this website in full, so that everyone can learn more about lynx.
We want to welcome all to come and enjoy this interactive experience, where you will be transported into a forest of the future, filled with wildlife and the sound of birdsong!
Free tickets to the exhibition are available here
If you are unable to visit the exhibition but would like to contribute to the conversation, please contact us at info@missinglynxproject.org.uk.
