Cave Discovery Dispels Lynx Myth

[L Roebuck]

Cave Discovery Dispels Lynx Myth

Bones found in a cave in North Yorkshire 100 years ago have dispelled myths about the extinction of one of Britain's hunting cats.

Four bones of a lynx were discovered in Moughton Fell Fissure Cave, near Settle, in the early 19th Century.

Experts had believed the lynx became extinct in the UK 4,000 years ago but new carbon dating suggests they were still around in early medieval times.

The findings have been described as of "national significance" by researchers.

Funded by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, carbon dating revealed the bones were only 1,500 years old and indicates that the lynx was hunted to extinction or lost their territory when farming intensified.

It had previously been thought they became extinct when the climate cooled and became wetter.

Conservation Archaeologist Robert White said: "The findings do surprise us in that the lynx became extinct 2,500 years later than we thought.

"The findings also highlight the importance of keeping archaeological collections safe for future research using more advanced technology."

Langcliffe farmer Tom Lord has been helping experts with research in the area.

He said: "It is of national significance.

"Craven has the greatest number of lynx records of any of the limestone cave areas of Britain - nine of the 25 British cave sites that have yielded lynx bones are in the area.

"What this means is that you can be fairly certain the lynx became extinct in the medieval period due to humans - considerably later than was previously thought."

BBC News
Monday, 10 October 2005
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/north_yorkshire/4324378.stm

[L Roebuck]

Return of the lynx?
By Nic Fleming
(Filed: 11/10/2005)

Lynx could be reintroduced to Britain following the uncovering of new evidence that suggests the species became extinct as the result of human activity.

Radiocarbon dating of bones and the reinterpretation of an early medieval poem show that the Eurasian lynx was a native species until the sixth or seventh century.

They were previously believed to have become extinct in Britain around 2,000 BC when the climate became cooler and wetter.

However the discovery that they lived in North Yorkshire, and possibly the Scottish Highlands and the Lake District, just 1,500 years ago suggests that they died out as a result of anthropogenic factors, those caused by humans, such as deforestation, declining deer populations and persecution.

While many zoologists are against attempts to bring back species made extinct because of natural processes, the European Union Habitats and Species directive requires member states to consider those killed off by human activities as candidates for reintroduction.

David Hetherington, from the department of zoology at the University of Aberdeen, said: "Taken together these findings indicate that lynx survived the change in the climate, and were most probably driven to extinction when people cut down the forests and effectively destroyed the lynx's habitat.

"This has important implications. While zoologists believe that it would be unethical to reintroduce a species that has been made extinct by natural climate change, the EU's Habitats directive obliges member states to consider reintroducing a species that has been killed off by human action. One species on the list of possible candidates is the Eurasian lynx.

''Reintroduction as a conservation tool should be considered only when the causes of extinction were driven by humans and are no longer operating."

A research paper published online in the Journal of Quaternary Science yesterday, described the radiocarbon dating of lynx bones found in Craven, North Yorks.

A right tibia found in the Moughton Fell cave was dated to 1,840 years old plus or minus 35 years and a left femur from the Kinsay cave was dated as 1,550 years old, plus or minus 24 years.

The dating, funded by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, has led to a reinterpretation of an early seventh century poem Pais Dinogad, written in Cumbric, a language related to Welsh and once spoken across much of northern England.

It is included in a book by the Welsh poet Aneirin. The verse, which celebrates the hunting prowess of Dinogad's father, has long puzzled scholars because as well as referring to him bagging a roebuck, a boar, a stag, it also says he killed a "llewyn".

The word was originally translated as lynx, but this interpretation was dismissed as impossible due to the previous belief that they had long been extinct by then.

However, the new radiocarbon dating suggests the original translation was correct and that the poem provides additional evidence of the lynx's presence in recent history.

Mr Hetherington said: "We now have a radiocarbon date for a similar period of time on bones found only 50 miles away from Derwent Water, where the poem was set.

"This is the first step in a much broader assessment of whether it is feasible to reintroduce the lynx to Britain."

The Eurasian lynx, the largest of the four lynx species, was once found in forested areas throughout most of Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Its range has been drastically reduced in Europe, where it is still found in smaller numbers in Scandivania, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Greece.

It has been restored in a number of upland areas of northern and western Europe in recent decades, including the Swiss Alps, the Jura mountains, the Harz mountains and in forests in Bavaria.

The reforestation of the Scottish Highlands and the growth of deer populations make the region the most suitable location for the reintroduction of Eurasian lynx in Britain.

Source: news.telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/11/nlynx11.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/10/11/ixhome.html