Tuesday, January 26, 2016

British brown bears

Brown bears used to live in the UK until 1000 AD. There were also lynxes that also used to live in Britain and the lynxes there became extinct in Roman times. It wasn't a different species or subspecies, it was actually a regular Eurasian brown bear. This is a regular live European brown bear at the Whipsnade zoo in England. Other brown bears in Europe became extinct in Denmark in 3000 BC, Eastern Germany in 1770, Bavaria in 1836, Switzerland in 1904, and the French Alps in 1937. In the last 50 years, British ecologists and conservationists have debated the reintroduction of bears, wolves, and lynxes. I wonder what it's like if they returned. The biggest problem of bringing back bears is that they don't have enough habitat for bears today, not in England and Wales but they might have enough habitat in the Scottish highlands. The lynx became extinct first, then the bear, and then the wolf. The Scottish highlands could all support lynx populations and wolf populations. If you want to survive bear attacks, go to my Bear Safety post and you will learn. Bears are one of the 11 deadliest European animals along with the Asp vipers, Moose, Badgers, Red foxes, Raccoons (Introduced), European wildcats, Wild boars, Lynxes, Wolverines, and Wolves. Some say that we should reintroduce wolves to Scotland to control deer numbers. Even David Attenborough thinks we should reintroduce the missing predators to the British countryside. At least black bears still live in Mexico. We already know that beavers have returned to Scotland in 2009. It would be amazing and interesting if the Eurasian lynx, Gray wolf, and Brown bear returned to the British and Irish countrysides. One day, a brown bear was spotted in Cairngorms national park in Scotland but it wasn't confirmed. After I discovered that wolves lived there, I wondered if bears still live there. Compared to other European countries, The UK has been slow to reintroduce its indigenous species, despite European legislation encouraging it. Big predators now roam in nearly one-third of Mainland Europe. There are currently 17,000 brown bears, 12,000 gray wolves, 9,000 European lynxes, and 1,250 wolverines.

1 comment:

  1. You and David Attenborough is my favorite zoologists of the world!

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