'I came face-to-face with two big cats on the loose in Scotland - one thing shocked me'
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A mountain rescue hero has told how he came across a pair of lynx that had been illegally released into the Scottish Highlands. Willi Anderson, deputy team leader of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team, said he came within 60 yards of the wild cats, which have since been recaptured. "They had definitely been illegally released because they were 100 yards from a pile of straw bedding that contained dead chicks and interestingly porcupine quills - the bedding was peppered with porcupine quills," said Mr Anderson.
"They were very tame and you could see they had been released from a nearby layby because there was the straw there too. They were only 100 yards from that spot and the road. I don't think they would have survived in the wild." Mr Anderson had contacted the nearby Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park near Kincraig after being told by a neighbour about the animals.
"The park had traps they use for their Scottish wildcat reintroduction programme, so they left baited cages and incredibly they caught both. The cages also had cameras so staff could monitor them," said Mr Anderson. "To catch one lynx in a cage was great but two was really fantastic. I have done a few rescues in my time but this was one of the more unusual events that I have come across.".
The pair were snapped by a local in snowy woodland on Wednesday. They were spotted in the Drumguish area, near to Kingussie. Today the nearby Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park, near Kincraig in the Highlands, said they had taken care of the animals, who would probably not have survived in the countryside. "We have successfully captured the two lynx that were illegally released into the Highlands," said the park.
