Disease and welfare risk assessments for the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) from Sweden to Kielder Forest, Northumberland, UK

• Main Authors: Mayhew, Michael, Chantrey, Julian, Morphet, Nick
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: 599 Mammals; 590 Animals (Zoology); Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: http://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/3528/; https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/3528/2/DRA%20Final%20Draft%20Insight%2002.01.18.pdf

This report was completed by a team of veterinary surgeons on behalf of the Lynx UK Trust, to support a licence application for a time limited, scientific trial reintroduction of lynx (Lynx lynx) to the Kielder Forest in Northumberland. The veterinary team has extensive experience of the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of infectious and non-infectious wildlife diseases. Additional information was sourced from the scientific literature using the academic search engines Web of Science and Google Scholar. Expert opinion was sought from an international network of veterinary pathologists, zoo veterinarians, ecologists and epidemiologists with experience of disease monitoring and management in lynx and their prey species. The disease and welfare risk assessment will inform the licensing authorities and the project team of the likelihood of disease associated with the reintroduction trial. Translocation affects host-pathogen communities in the donor and release environments. The primary aim of the risk assessment is to proactively minimize the likelihood of disease in the donor animals, other wildlife, domesticated species and humans, by identifying and assessing the likelihood of disease as a consequence of the reintroduction trial and recommending cost-effective disease mitigation.