Lynx UK Trust originally applied in 2017 for six lynx to be released into the forest as part of a five-year trial, but this was refused by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) the following year.<\/p>\n
The group then submitted a revised proposal in 2022 for a three-year trial involving the release of the three lynx from Sweden.<\/p>\n
But that was also refused by Natural England the same year, with the body claiming such a release was prohibited by the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (DWAA), which makes it an offence to release certain animals into the wild. <\/p>\n
Lynx UK Trust challenged the refusal in the High Court, with its lawyers claiming the animals could still be released under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA).<\/p>\n
The WCA allows authorities to issue licences for the release of animals which are not “ordinarily resident” in the wild in the UK, despite the terms of DWAA.<\/p>\n
The trust also argued at the hearing earlier this month the terms of the DWAA had been “impliedly repealed” by the terms of the WCA.<\/p>\n
Natural England and Defra opposed the claim.<\/p>\n
In a 16-page judgment, Obi said: “Properly construed, the DWAA continues to apply to lynx as a scheduled dangerous wild animal.<\/p>\n
“I am unable to accept either the claimant’s primary submission that the Act ceases to apply upon deliberate release pursuant to a licence under… the WCA, or its alternative submission that the relevant provisions have been impliedly repealed by the later enactment of the WCA.”<\/p>\n
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