The Missing Lynx Project, a partnership between Northumberland Wildlife Trust, The Lifescape Project and The Wildlife Trusts, are running a touring exhibition on the reintroduction of the lynx to the countryside.
The group believes an area including Northumberland and bordering parts of Scotland could support a population of the solitary predator wildcats.
A previous bid to introduce lynx to Northumberland by the Lynx UK Trust was rejected by the government in 2018. The rejection was welcomed by the National Sheep Association, NFU and NFU Scotland.
The latest plans to re-introduce lynx come as the North East gears up to elect its first regional mayor. The new mayor has a raft of new money and powers relating to the economy, transport and housing. The devolution deal also makes the region a 'rural exemplar' with joint working with DEFRA and other government agencies baked into the deal.
Conservative candidate for North East Mayor, Guy Renner-Thompson, who comes from a farming background, said, "I 100% oppose the reintroduction of lynx to Kielder Forest and if I'm elected mayor I will do everything in my power to stop it. Kielder and the North Tyne Valley are living, working communities, not lives to be experimented on. Lynx are a danger to sheep and other livestock. The same reasons for refusal given 6 years ago stand today.
I will always stand up for our traditional working communities like I did in successfully opposing the Lindisfarne Highly Protected Marine Area which would have banned fishing and devastated lives on the Northumbrian coast"
Guy Renner-Thompson is Vice-Chair of Northumberland Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authority which led opposition to the Lindisfarne HPMA. Controversial plans for the fishing ban at Northumberland's Holy Island were dropped in 2023.
See Guys plan for the rural economy here - The home of the jobs of the future | Guy Renner-Thompson (guyrennerthompson.uk)
