Moose in Sutherland / Wolves & Bears or Grouse & Deer?

[Loch not Lock]

Paul Lister of the Alladale Estate is considering bring moose to Sutherland - Robert Burns will be like a whirligig.:)
He is already proposing wild boar, lynx, wolves and bears. Hillwalkers beware.
Whatever next Hippos in Loch Calder, crocodiles in Loch Ness, Giraffes in Nairn(already there):confused

[the second coming]

there's nothing unusual there, i've been getting moose's in my shed all winter

[tisme]

Theres a moose loose aboot this hoose! I know it's not that kind of moose but I couldn't resist;)

[Tilter]

Hi,
Did anyone watch Natural World on telly tonight? Re the owner of Alladale Estate attempting to re-wild his land with native woodland and re-introduce elk, lynx, wild pigs, wolves and (eventually) bears in order to create a nature reserve.

The problems seem unsurmountable with special help as usual from British governmental red tape. He has fenced the land (understandably - wolves pose no threat to man but I'm not too sure about bears). This has incensed the Right to Roamers who fought long and hard for humans to go anywhere they feel like. His neighbouring estate owners manage their land for fishing and hunting, and don't seem too keen. Scottish Natural Heritage are sticking their oar in as usual with benefit to neither man nor beast on either side. They are saying it isn't a nature reserve because it has fences. Therefore it must be a zoo, and putting prey and predators in the same enclosure is against zoo regulations. However, predators are needed to keep down the red deer (a pest in huge numbers preventing regrowth of forest in Scotland) and predate on the herbivores so they don't destroy the trees again. In a nutshell, it will take a long time but the animals will eventually manage the land themselves.

Most of the Highlands is degraded land, yet nature reserves are flourishing and bringing in tourists etc. on degraded land in, e.g., Africa and Argentina. If Britain were to have a nature reserve (a small Yellowstone Park?) the only possible place in the country for it is the Scottish Highlands.

What do you guys think? Is this a pipedream or something more than one man should be striving for?

[rupert]

Maybe I'm just being very cynical but it sounds like another estate trying to make money out of eco-tourists. I certainly, do not think introducing wolves and bears for goodness sake is a very good idea (as much as I like these animals). Will it not just be another Longleat on a much bigger scale?

[Amy-Winehouse]

Excuse me for asking, will this not be A gamekeepers nightmare??? Everyone who`s anyone on the poaching side of things will want to pay this chap a visit when his new `brand` of game arrives .

Im just guessing but Id imagine the chance to shoot a wild bear, boar, wolf in bonnie Scotland will be too much for some of the U.K`s best marksmen-I know if I had a rifle & somebody told me about this, I d be perking my ears up alright!!!!

Id also imagine theyd have cctv(the kind that works, take note Thurso) all over the estate but where theres a will , theres a way as we all know.

Id love a Moose head on my wall , with the Antlers, it is such a majestic animal or a Bearskin rug in front of my fire. Or a taste of Bear-it is meant to be good.

Dont think friends of the earth will like it though:eek:

[the_count]

Ok i propose a Tiger Shoot next week lol the moose is the booby prize but will keep the freezer full.:eek: And i thought the wolf i saw last week was someones alsation out for a stroll hehehehe

[Errogie]

Apparently Mr. Lister wasn't involved in running the family furniture business (MFI), had some sort of breakdown and then a "Eureka moment" when he saw his mission in life being to restablish extinct wildlife somewhere in the world and chose Scotland.

What was absent from the programme was any reaction from locals and that is because he got a very rough ride at a public meeting in Bonar Bridge when very late in the day after several large press releases he deigned to let them know what he was about. The gathering of lairds sitting around a tea table with their Etonian accents was an incredible display of Highland caricatures.

He also has had an unhappy habit of announcing his proposals before doing any homework and what also wasn't mentioned was his idea of running a camp to rehabilitate and civilise young offenders which of course went down like a lead balloon in relatively crime free Strathcarron. If the wolves don't break out and eat your lambs perhaps the kids will nick your car and do a runner back to Glasgow!

However his most naive turn is to expect to carve off up to 50,000 acres put it behind a deer fence and charge anyone to come through the place despite there being two historic rights of way (one from Croick Church in Glencalvie!) plus various mountain destinations. And we've just fought long and hard to restore 10,000 year old access rights after a brief period of restriction during the last 175 years. He might be better advised to try and support wolves bears and lynx in those European countries where indigenous populations are under threat from poaching and habitat destruction. In the meantime however there is a plentiful staff earning a wage and academics hanging on his coat tails.

[Riffman]

Hum, someone has been pruning this thread.

Wolf hunting for teh win!111!!!!!!!!!!1


[lol][lol]

[Stargazer]

Now that the Scottish Government has given us all the right to roam this is the landowners new way of keeping us peasants off 'their' land.