A Work of Hope - Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea, and Human Life - page 125

Name of
species

Approximate date of
extinction in Britain

Suitability for
reintroduction

Reintroduction efforts
so far

Reindeer The most recent fossil

evidence, from
Sutherland, is
8,300 years old. 4

2 A free- ranging herd

grazes on and around
Cairn Gorm in the
Scottish Highlands. 5 The
reindeer belonged to the
glacial fauna of Britain
and is likely to have
become extinct for
climatic reasons.

Wild
horse

Of the two most
recent dates for wild
horse fossils in
Britain, one has been
misreported and the
other appears unsafe.
The latest now stands
at around 9,300 years
old. 6

3 Animals belonging to the

last surviving subspecies
of wild horse,
Przewalski's ( Equus
ferus przewalskii) , graze
Eelmoor Marsh in
Hampshire. 7 Various
hardy domesticated
breeds are used by
conservationists. The
question of whether
horses should be
considered part of
our native fauna is
controversial, but the
evidence suggests that
they became extinct
largely as a result of
climate change.