THE Eurasian lynx is native to the UK and is thought to have been wiped from these shores between 500AD and 700AD by a combination of deforestation and hunting.

Conservationists believe reintroducing it could rebalance the ecosystem by helping to control deer populations, and this week the Lynx UK Trust submitted an application to Natural England to carry out a trial release of six cats – four females and two males – in Northumberland’s Kielder Forest.

It is the first time an application has ever been made in the UK for this species or any other apex predator, and the proposal has sparked serious concerns among farmers worried about attacks on their livestock.

In a detailed question and answer section on its website, the trust accepts that some sheep will be killed by lynx, but says the cats’ primary food source would be deer.

Their preferred habitat is forest, and lynx are far happier hunting among trees and undergrowth than being exposed in an open sheep field, adds the trust.

The answer continues: “Reintroducing lynx here does mean that some sheep will become prey. The vast majority of European evidence suggests it will be a very small number simply because lynx and sheep tend to occupy very different habitats, and we will have a compensation scheme that really does what it's supposed to for the times when they come together.

“Even if it's just one sheep, British farmers have a pretty hard time of things already, and a sheep lost is money lost; there must be generous compensation, above the market value.”

But the National Sheep Association (NSA) remains unconvinced, and has warned that legislation would need to be changed before any release could take place.

Phil Stocker, NSA chief executive, says: “We are confident current legislation will not facilitate a release and any appetite for a regulatory change at a time when there will be so many other priorities is unjustifiable.”

He is also worried that if the lynx is given protection under law, farmers would be unable to shoot any found worrying their stock, and their only option would be to claim compensation for injured or killed animals.

Mr Stocker says: “Even if compensation were offered, it will not make sheep mortalities acceptable and, given the general public’s reaction to some of the harrowing images caused by domestic dog attacks and their expectation of high animal welfare, I cannot see how distressing attacks caused by a wild animal will be accepted.”

The trust argues that the cats could bring huge benefits to the Kielder area.

“We could see a wave of economic regeneration as it becomes known as the kingdom of the lynx; a unique eco-tourism destination right in the middle of Britain,” says the chief scientific advisor on the project, Dr Paul O'Donoghue.

“We've had a lot of positive feedback from local businesses and it would be amazing to work with them developing that, from the Angler's Arms pub in Kielder Village, already sporting a life-size replica lynx above the bar, to all kinds of new guest houses, guided walks and wildlife watching activities creating new jobs in the area.”

This is rejected by Mr Stocker, who says: “We are confident that pastoral livestock farming already delivers a highly attractive countryside with environmental, economic and social benefits – I cannot accept that lynx could improve or deliver anything more.

“The species has been absent from the UK for thousands of years, and our countryside now is far too fragmented and built up to support a viable population of lynx.

“The species would challenge the way our countryside is managed, a countryside which is already valued and appreciated by rural residents and visitors alike.”

Hexham MP Guy Opperman carried out his own survey of residents in the area and found that 90 per cent of people did not want the reintroduction to go ahead.

He calls the plan “genuinely mad” and believes that as well as the potential for livestock to be killed, walkers and bikers could be put off coming to the area for fear of the cats.

Dr O'Donoghue believes the only way to settle the argument is to for the trial to go ahead.

He says: "We've now reached a point where we feel every piece of research has been done, every concern that can be raised has been raised, and the only way to move truly forward is with an intensively monitored trial reintroduction of a small number of cats.

“That can tell us exactly how suitable the lynx would be for a larger reintroduction."

Natural England, the statutory agency responsible for licensing species reintroductions, will now decide on the application.